Articles Posted in COVID-19

On December 28, 2020, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced that skilled nursing home residents and staff members would begin to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine immediately. This effort is made possible by the state of Michigan’s participation in the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care (LTC) Program.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pharmacy Partnership for LTC Program is a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CVS, Walgreens, and certain participating Managed Health Care Associates, Inc. (MHA) pharmacies, to offer COVID-19 vaccination for residents and employees of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Starting in November 2020, long term care facilities (LTCFs) could sign up for the program and choose a federal pharmacy partner. The CDC worked with local jurisdictions to match facilities with their selected pharmacy partner. Pharmacy partners then reached out to their assigned LTCF to coordinate the vaccine process. Through the program, LTCFs will receive the vaccine free of charge, and will be provided with end-to-end management of the vaccine process, including on-site administration of vaccinations, scheduling, and coordination of on-site clinic dates, ordering vaccines and necessary supplies, and the implementation of reporting requirements. The goal of the program is to reduce the burden on LTCFs and local health departments, while increasing vaccination to vulnerable, priority populations.

Skilled nursing home residents and staff are among the highest risk for severe illness and death due to COVID-19. In Michigan, over 5,000 LTC facilities, including 400 skilled nursing facilities, are enrolled in the vaccine program. There are approximately 91,000 skilled nursing residents and employees to be vaccinated, with the process estimated to require three weeks to completely vaccinate this population. Other facilities eligible for the Pharmacy Partnership for LTC Program, such as, assisted living facilities, personal care homes, residential care, adult family homes, adult foster homes, HUD supportive housing for the elderly and veterans’ homes, will soon receive vaccinations as well. Adult day care facilities, independent living facilities, facilities exclusively for children or adolescents, psychiatric rehabilitation or behavioral treatment facilities, and drug or alcohol rehabilitation centers are not eligible for the program.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has released two new tools to help reduce COVID-19 infections, deaths, and identify exposure risks, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The MI COVID Alert App is a free, anonymous app that alerts users if they have had a recent COVID-19 exposure. In addition to the MI COVID Alert App, the MDHHS launched CV19 CheckUp, a free, anonymous, online service that allows an individual to evaluate his or her personal COVID-19 risks.

In a partnership with MDHHS and the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB), the MI COVID Alert App was released statewide on November 9, 2020. The app is free, voluntary to use, and alerts users to recent COVID-19 exposures. Users can anonymously submit a positive COVID-19 test result as well, informing others nearby that they may have been exposed to the virus. When a person tests positive for COVID-19, the individual will receive a randomly generated PIN number from the local health department or State of Michigan, which the user can then enter into the app. If a user receives an exposure notification, this alerts the individual that he or she may have been within 6 feet for a minimum of 15 minutes of another individual with a positive test result. Notably, no information that can be used to personally identify or track a user’s location is required or shared; no names are necessary to use the app, and Bluetooth technology is used instead of GPS, to prevent location tracking. One month since its launch, the app has received 461,192 downloads. MDHHS claims the app has potential to decrease infections and mortality, even with only a 15% population use rate.

In addition to the app, on December 15, 2020, MDHHS launched the CV19 CheckUp tool. This free tool, available to all individuals in Michigan, offers users a personalized risk analysis for COVID-19. After completing an online questionnaire that takes into account an individual’s life situation and personal behavior, users are provided with a COVID-19 risk assessment as well as recommendations and connections to support services, if necessary. Although this tool is available for all Michigan residents, it is specifically created for older individuals, those 60 and over, who represent 24% of confirmed COVID-19 cases and 89% of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Michigan. Like the MI COVID Alert App, the CV19 CheckUp tool is anonymous, and no name, email address, or other personal identifier is necessary to use and receive a personal risk and recommendation analysis. Rather than placing the burden on the individual to browse various websites and other COVID-19 related resources, the CV19 CheckUp tool uses data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as artificial intelligence, to analyze each person’s data, providing them with a risk level, an easy-to-understand evaluation of that risk, and steps that can be taken to minimize that risk.