ICYMI: NHSN Changing “Up to Date” Definition for LTC COVID-19 Vaccine Reporting
The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) is changing the definition of “up to date” for COVID-19 vaccine reporting in long term care (LTC) beginning Quarter 2 of 2024 (week of April 1, 2024). This change, which reflects the latest guidance from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), aims to ensure the most effective vaccine protection for individuals, especially those aged 65 years and older.
Key Points
- The ACIP and CDC provided new recommendations of COVID-19 vaccines for individuals aged 65 years and older.
- Those 65 and older are now considered up to date when they have received 2 doses of the updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine, or 1 dose of the updated vaccine in the past 4 months.
- For individuals under 65 years, there is no change; they are up to date with 1 dose of the updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine since its approval in September 2023.
- The updated definition applies to both the NHSN Weekly HCP and Resident Vaccination Forms.
- These changes will be implemented at the beginning of Quarter 2 of 2024 (week of April 1, 2024).
Data Reporting in Quarter 2 of 2024
- Residents and health care personnel aged 65 and older should ONLY be counted as up to date after receiving a second dose of the 2023-2024 updated COVID-19 vaccine or if they have received 1 dose in the past 4 months.
- Avoid over-reporting: Residents aged 65 and older who have received only 1 dose of the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine more than 4 months ago should NOT be counted as up to date.
- Continue to count residents and health care personnel under 65 as up to date with 1 dose of the updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine.
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Upcoming Training Webinars
The NHSN Vaccination team will host two webinars to detail these changes to the surveillance definition of being up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. Both webinars cover the same information. After registering, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing information about joining the webinar.
Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. ET
Register in advance for this webinar.
Hosted by NHSN
Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. ET
Register in advance for this webinar.
Hosted by NHSN
Questions
For faster response times, please use NHSN-ServiceNow portal to submit questions to the NHSN Help Desk. The new portal can be accessed here and should be used in place of nhsn@cdc.gov, nhsntrain@cdc.gov, and nhsndua@cdc.gov.
ServiceNow will help the NHSN team respond to your questions faster. Users will be authenticated using CDC’s Secure Access Management Services (SAMS), the same way you access NHSN. If you do not have a SAMS login, or are unable to access ServiceNow, you can still e-mail the NHSN Help Desk at nhsn@cdc.gov.