‘They’ve been an afterthought’: millions of elderly Americans still vulnerable as pandemic caution wanes - The Guardian

Although Covid causes less panic now, particularly given the protection offered by updated vaccines and treatments, older Americans are still seeing their lives upended – and, tragically, ended entirely – by new outbreaks.

They’re now navigating a world ruptured by continued virus surges, shortages in the staff who care for them, and grief over more than a million people lost in two years.

The move could make it even more difficult for those at risk, especially elderly people, to navigate health care settings and long-term care facilities safely.

Prioritizing older Americans during this time is “paramount”, said David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School.

In nursing homes, only 57% of residents and 43% of staff are up to date on their vaccines.

Fewer than 1% of Americans live in long-term care facilities, yet about one-fifth of all deaths from Covid-19 are related to nursing homes, with more than 200,000 residents and workers dying from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

“Residents, their families and their caregivers have long known that US nursing home care is broken, yet this issue has gone largely unnoticed in the broader population.

The House coronavirus subcommittee outlined the “dire” conditions of for-profit nursing homes during the early months of the pandemic, revealing widespread neglect that led to health deterioration and death.

Yet at least 32 states have passed legislation making it harder for residents or their families to sue long-term care facilities for such treatment.

So when you’re putting a profit motive on nursing homes to squeeze out a couple extra dollars from these communities, it’s going to compromise care,” said Ashwin Kotwal, assistant professor of geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.

Economic hardships for older Americans were four to six times greater than in other countries surveyed, and they were more likely among Latino and Black adults than among white adults in the US.

Vaccination clinics and vaccine mandates in health systems and long-term care facilities were “really effective,” Grabowski said

About 87% of residents and staff in nursing homes were vaccinated because of the clinics and mandates – but those requirements have not been updated to include boosters

And more vaccine clinics for facilities, as well as campaigns to reach homebound adults and others facing access problems, could also increase booster rates and protect older adults this winter