Slow rollout for vaccines at Louisiana nursing homes comes amid increasing virus outbreaks
Even though an increasing number of Louisiana's most vulnerable residents in long-term care centers are receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, it could still be several weeks before the grim realities of the coronavirus pandemic abate, and with infections rising, the lumbering effort to protect them could not come soon enough.
Nearly two weeks after pharmacy giants Walgreens and CVS began administering the COVID-19 vaccine in Louisiana nursing homes and long term care facilities, barely more than 5,000 residents and staff had received their first doses as of Friday, according to numbers from the Louisiana Department of Health and CVS.
About 5,100 vaccines had been administered in long-term care facilities, according to a state Department of Health spokeswoman. That includes about 3,600 to residents and 1,500 to staff, she said.
Those numbers were lower than the numbers reported online by CVS Friday, however. The drugstore chain reported administering about 5,300 vaccines in Louisiana. Similar numbers were not provided by Walgreens.
Read more: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/coronavirus/article_eea49446-4bcc-11eb-ba47-07506da1cdf9.html