Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Safety & Quality
August 16, 2021 05:24 PM

Hospitals prepare rollout of COVID-19 booster shots

Steven Ross Johnson
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Healthcare providers plan to incorporate the distribution of an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine to immunocompromised individuals with their existing vaccination campaigns—and as preparation for future efforts to get extra doses to a larger share of Americans.

    Providers such as New York-based Mount Sinai Health System and Maywood, Illinois-based Loyola Medicine are getting ready to start providing extra doses to vaccinated patients, but key questions remain unanswered for hospitals.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration have both OK'd additional vaccine for people with suppressed immune systems, including cancer patients, organ transplant recipients, people with untreated or advanced HIV, patients receiving high-dose corticosteroids and anyone with moderate or severe immunodeficiency. The American Medical Association expedited approval of new Current Procedural Terminology codes for a third dose of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the organization announced Monday.

    Evidence has mounted that the standard vaccine dose isn't as effective for people with weakened immune systems, and the Delta variant has triggered a massive surge in cases and hospitalizations, particularly in regions with low vaccination rates.

    Public health experts expected for months that an additional vaccine dose would eventually be advised for vulnerable people. The CDC's new policy still arrived suddenly for health systems, who weren't yet ready to get booster shots into eligible arms.

    At Mount Sinai, the health system will follow the playbook it uses when vaccinating people the first time, said Dr. Cardinale Smith, associate professor of medicine, hematology and medical oncology at Mount Sinai. Patients are already calling to ask about booster shots, she said. Mount Sinai will reach out to vaccinated, immunocompromised people through patient portals and telephone calls, she said.

    "This is a population who is likely to be much better versed on the risks of what having an immunocompromised system is like, and probably more primed and used to being evaluated for vaccines and other methods to decrease their infection complications," Smith said.

    Patients are likely to merely have to attest that they meet the CDC's requirements for another dose, Smith said. Hospitals also must ensure that patients get another dose of the same vaccine they previously received. CDC recommends against giving patients a different vaccine except under exceptional circumstances.

    While some health systems have planning still to do, providers such as Loyola Medicine are ready to begin offering booster shots within days.

    Identifying every eligible patient treated across multiple departments could be a challenge, said Dr. Richard Freeman, regional chief clinical officer at Loyola Medicine. "Just like with the initial vaccine, we didn't have a lot of lead time," Freeman said. "You can't just hit a button and generate a list of people."

    Over the next few weeks, Loyola Medicine will expand vaccination capacity to facilitate booster shots for patients who visit their facilities for other types of medical care, Freeman said.

    Rolling out booster shots to immunosuppressed patients could help Loyola Medicine learn best practices that would apply to a broad-based campaign to get extra vaccine doses to a larger share of the population if the CDC and the FDA expand their guidance, Freeman said.

    "It allows us to take a couple of small groups and start to work through the third dose in most of those folks instead of having a million people at our doorstep tomorrow," Freeman said.

    Approximately 7 million U.S. adults are immunocompromised. COVID-19 vaccines are 59%-72% effective for people with suppressed immune systems compared to 90%-94% for the rest of the population, according to evidence presented to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Friday. Immunocompromised individuals made up between 40% and 44% of all COVID hospitalizations involving those who are vaccinated. More than 1 million people are estimated to have gotten a third dose on their own.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    WHO_i.jpg
    WHO: 2nd COVID booster for most vulnerable offers benefits
    cardiac-surgery copy_i.png
    Rates of unnecessary procedures persisted through pandemic, study shows
    Sponsored Content
    COVID-19 Coverage Newsletter: Sign up today to receive a comprehensive daily newsletter designed for healthcare leaders looking for the most accurate and comprehensive resources related to coronavirus.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing