HCA has some new information to support home care and hospice staff vaccinations for the week 4 prioritization schedule and ongoing vaccination effort.
We are also holding a statewide member Zoom meeting on vaccinations next week. Please register. Below are further details and guidance.
Making Vaccine Appointments
While the state and city health departments have developed general vaccine eligibility and appointment websites that your staff can utilize, each of the ten Regional Advisory Task Force (RATF) coalitions have also begun sharing information with HCA on specific sites of vaccine dispensing for priority 1a workers (which includes home care and hospice).
This appointment information can be found in spreadsheets posted to HCA’s COVID-19 resource page. This is a vital resource that you should be sharing with your staff as you guide them through the vaccination process.
Please check this page regularly and refresh your browser each time as we update the appointment links and contact information. Please also be advised that appointment procedures may change altogether. HCA will inform you of any such changes.
Preparing Staff for Vaccination
As HCA has repeatedly stressed, it is vital for agencies to educate staff on the importance of vaccination using the resources that HCA has already shared, including toolkits provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In addition, staff should be prepared and equipped as follows:
- Share the NYS DOH COVID Vaccine Eligibility Assessment with your staff so they may begin scheduling their first vaccination appointment. Additional instructions for your staff are here.
- Staff must document that they are in priority 1a at the vaccination site by bringing one of the following: an employee ID card, a letter from their employer, or a recent pay stub.
- Staff should complete the NYS COVID-19 Vaccine Form prior to getting vaccinated. It can also be completed at the vaccination site on a smart phone.
- Remind staff who are vaccinated that they will have to get a second immunization within a month of the first one and they should let you know when that is scheduled.
- Remind staff to bring you a copy of their immunization card for their personnel files and keep a copy of both immunization documents in their personnel records.
Zoom Meeting on Vaccinations
On January 13 at 10 a.m., HCA will hold a statewide member meeting on Zoom to discuss the most current home care and hospice vaccination guidance (including the distribution process and sites), answer your questions, and listen to your experiences or needs so that HCA can further address issues with vaccine planners and policymakers on your behalf. Register here. You will receive access instructions after HCA confirms the membership status of registrants.
Reminder: Keep Your HCS Accounts Up-to-Date
We also remind members to please keep your Health Commerce System accounts up to date. This is a primary avenue for health officials to contact you, including with information about vaccine sites being made available and other time-sensitive information.
COVID-19 Resource Page
As a reminder, HCA is posting all resources to our COVID-19 resource page here. Also, all alerts and news updates are provided as a digest on our website here.
Please stay tuned for all key developments in this fluid process.