*Give the Boost a Shot Program Update*

Starting in July, Give the Boost a Shot will host two events each month, on the first and last Thursdays. We will send this bulletin once monthly on the second Tuesday. You will receive short emails with registration information for the events on the Tuesday prior to each event. Thank you for all of the great work you are doing to keep residents and staff healthy. We are looking forward to watching your vaccination rates continue to grow!
 

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In this Issue

Register for Upcoming Give the Boost a Shot Events *ANCC Contact Hours Awarded*

• Thursday, July 21, 2022 from 2-3 p.m. ET/ 1-2 p.m. CT: Join Marilee Johnson MBA, MT (ASCP), Alliant Technical Advisor, Infection Prevention, Donald Chitanda, MPH CIC, Technical Advisor, Infection Prevention & Amy Ward, MS, BSN, RN, CIC, Alliant Infection Prevention Specialist for NSHN Shop Talk. We will review NHSN updates and host a live questions & answer session following. REGISTER
• We want to hear from you on topics!

Best Practice of the Week/ Center Highlight of the Week

• Boosting our Residents!

• Boosters for Omicron
• Omicron sub-variants BA.4, BA.5 make up more than 50% of U.S. COVID cases - CDC
• CDC: 6 Things to Know about COVID-19 Vaccination for Children
• **CDC NHSN Updates** Weekly HCP & Resident COVID-19 Vaccination
• Choosing Your COVID-19 Booster
• Know Your COVID-19 Community Level

• *New Videos* Take 5 Video Playlist with Swati Gaur, MD, MBA, CMD, AGSF, Medical Director, Post Acute Care, Northeast Georgia Health System and Jeremy Bischoff, LHNA, BS, Quality Improvement Initiative Advisor at Alliant Health Solutions
• Understanding How COVID-19 Vaccines Work
• When to Get Tested for COVID-19
• COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation Calculator
• The Adult Vaccine Assessment Tool
• Flyer: Visitor Talking Points
• Poster: Attention Vistors
• Poster: Why I Got Vaccinated
• Click HERE or visit https://bit.ly/GiveTheBoostAShot to download helpful resources and materials.

Check in: How are we doing? Are you finding the events and materials helpful?

• Please click here to share feedback with us

Latest Guidance/Updates

• Boosters for Omicron
  The Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday [June 30, 2022] that it had advised coronavirus vaccine manufacturers to update their booster formulations to target the fast-spreading Omicron subvariants known as BA.4 and BA.5, which are now estimated to account for more than half of new virus cases in the United States. Read More 
• Omicron sub-variants BA.4, BA.5 make up more than 50% of U.S. COVID cases - CDC
  June 28 (Reuters) - The fast-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron are estimated to make up a combined 52% of the coronavirus cases in the United States as of June 25, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday. The two sublineages accounted for more than a third of U.S. cases for the week of June 18. They were added to the World Health Organization's monitoring list in March and designated as variants of concern by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Read More
• CDC: 6 Things to Know about COVID-19 Vaccination for Children
  Talk with your family about getting the little ones vaccinated. In case you missed it, CDC now recommends COVID-19 vaccines for everyone 6 months and older, and boosters for everyone 5 years and older. Read More
• **CDC NHSN Updates** Weekly HCP & Resident COVID-19 Vaccination
  Below is a summary of new resources and updated files available on the CDC NHSN Weekly HCP & Resident COVID-19 Vaccination website.
  • Training slides from the June 2022 Webinar are now available. ​​​​​​
    • Up to Date Vaccination Status: Surveillance Definition Change Training Slides
    • NHSN Event-Level/Person-Level Vaccination Forms: Office Hours and FAQs
    • Key Change: Date of birth is a required field for all individuals in the facility & HCP as of June 27th, since age (> 50 yrs. old) is part of the new up to date vaccination definition.
    • Download the new templates here; they are titled as follows. 
      • Variable description and file layout for event-level (person-level) vaccination forms [PDF – 145 KB] – June 2022
      • CSV templates and examples files for residents of Long-term Care Facilities (LTCFs)
        • .CSV File Template for LTCF Residents [XLS – 10 KB] – June 2022
        • Example .CSV File for LTCF Residents [XLS – 11 KB] – June 2022
      • CSV templates and examples files for healthcare personnel of Long-term Care Facilities (LTCFs)
        • .CSV File Template for LTCF HCP [XLS – 10 KB] – June 2022
        • Example .CSV File for LTCF HCP [XLS – 11 KB] – June 2022
  • Note from NHSN: Based on feedback that the green rows were causing confusion, NHSN removed the feature that turned modified rows green. You can still see which weeks have modified data using the reporting summary and the reporting week drop-down menu. However, it is extremely important that you only select weeks and submit data using the event-level/person-level reporting summary for weeks that you have entered complete person-level data. Submitting data to the Weekly COVID-19 Vaccination Module from the event-level/person-level form for a given week overwrites any data you previously entered for that week, including data previously entered using the weekly summary form. This is true for all methods of entry into the Weekly COVID-19 Vaccination Module, for any given week the NHSN application will only save the data provided to the from the last method of upload.
  • Please join the Alliant team on July 21st, for the Alliant Health Solutions NHSN Shop Talk to hear NHSN updates and a live questions & answer session. REGISTER HERE

• Choosing Your COVID-19 Booster
  This CDC website page provides guidance for individuals on which boosters to select based on certain criteria. Read More
• Know Your COVID-19 Community Level 
  CDC's COVID-19 Community Levels are a tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area. COVID-19 County Check

Materials & Resources

​​​​​​ Video Playlist with Swati Gaur, MD, MBA, CMD, AGSF, Medical Director, Post Acute Care, Northeast Georgia Health System and Jeremy Bischoff, LHNA, BS, Quality Improvement Initiative Advisor at Alliant Health Solutions.

• These short videos cover some of the frequently asked questions and common concerns we've from nursing homes across the states we serve related COVID-19 and vaccination. These videos provide quick, to-the-point information and advice to tackle questions and concerns. We will update the list of modules each week! Watch them here.
  • Take 5: Welcome Message: The purpose of the modules (~5 minutes) - watch
  • Take 5: Vaccine Eligibility Part 1: CDC Recommendations as of 5/19/22. What does it mean to be up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccinations? - watch
  • Take 5: Vaccine Eligibility Part 2: Jeremy and Swati discuss some tough questions like "what if I got COVID between the primary and booster?" or "what if I'm recovering from cancer? or received monoclonal antibodies?" - watch
  • Take 5: Overcoming Concerns - watch
  • Take 5: Additional Precautions for the Unvaccinated HCP - watch
  • Take 5: Walkthrough Care Compare - Finding Public Data - watch
  • Take 5: How to stay UTD with Trusted Sources - watch
  • Take 5: How does it affect my operations? - watch
  • Take 5: Boosters and Variants - watch
  • Take 5: Vaccination for Short Stay Residents - watch
  • Take 5: Cohorting - watch
• Understanding How COVID-19 Vaccines Work
  This website page provides resources and information about how vaccines work. Visit Website
• When to Get Tested for COVID-19: The Coronavirus Self-Checker is an interactive clinical assessment tool that can help you decide when to seek testing or medical care if you think you have COVID-19 or have come into close contact with someone who has COVID-19.
• COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation Calculator: CDC’s COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation calculator takes the stress out of deciding when, and for how long, people with COVID-19 and close contacts need to stay home, get tested, and wear a well-fitting mask.
• The Adult Vaccine Assessment Tool: CDC’s Adult Vaccine Quiz helps you create a list of vaccines you may need based on your age, health conditions, and more. Click here to take the quiz now!
• Flyer: Visitor Talking Points: This one-page flyer outlines how to talk to visitors about ensuring the safety of nursing home residents and staff while visiting. Download 
• Poster: Attention Visitors: This poster outlines practices to help visitors keep nursing homes residents and staff safe. Download 
• Poster: COVID-19 Vaccine Booster: Why Should I Get Boosted? Download | In Spanish
• Click HERE or visit https://bit.ly/GiveTheBoostAShot to download helpful resources and materials.

About the Give the Shot a Boost Program

Alliant Health Solutions received a direct change order from CMS to provide support to nursing homes to help accelerate resident vaccination rates. This intensive program includes the following services and activities:

• Second Tuesday: You will receive a weekly email bulletin dedicated to this program with the latest updates and tools you can use to help increase vaccination and booster rates.
• Twice monthly educational events and dedicated time to ask questions.
• A dedicated website page with resources and materials.
• Access to experts in epidemiology, quality improvement, and infection control. 
  • Assistance Hotline: 1-888-519-4128
  • Email: Booster@allianthealth.org 

For more information about Alliant Health Solutions, visit the website: quality.allianthealth.org.

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