Vaccination Rates Remaining Short of Goal for Long-Term Care Staff

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Jeff Bostic

LeadingAge Minnesota has pulled together recent data on vaccination rates, both for long-term care staff in Minnesota and the general population in Minnesota. While progress is continuing in the general population, the pace of improvement in long-term care has slowed recently.

In the most recent Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) update on LTC vaccination, staff rates for full vaccination were 61% in all reporting care centers and 55% in all reporting assisted living settings, which are the exact figures as the previous week. To reach the MDH goal of 70% staff vaccination rates, providers will need to continue encouraging vaccinations among staff.

The MDH report also looks at regional differences in vaccination rates which show a lot of variation. The Twin Cities Metro area has the highest staff vaccination rates of any region, at 69% in care centers and 60% in assisted living. Meanwhile, the MDH central region, which includes St. Cloud and the Brainerd area, has the lowest rates at 47% in care centers and 42% in assisted living.

Resident vaccination rates remain excellent, at 87% fully vaccinated in care centers and 91% fully vaccinated in assisted living. The general population vaccination rate in Minnesota is rising toward the 70% goal, with 65% of those 16 and older and 90% of those 65 and older having received at least one vaccine dose.

Staff and resident vaccination rates in LeadingAge member sites are similar to the overall rates for LTC providers. Our member vaccination rates from the MDH report are 60% for care centers and 54% for assisted living for staff. Meanwhile, our resident rates are identical to the overall rates at 87% in care centers and 91% in assisted living.

With care centers soon required to report vaccination data to the federal government, MDH has eliminated the requirement that care centers report vaccination data to the state. In the future, we will continue to provide vaccination rate updates based on federal data.