DoorDash is donating $2 million in gift cards to be distributed by Direct Relief to Community Health Centers across the country as incentives to support vaccine outreach and participation. More than 300 FQHCs have already signed up and some Pennsylvania health centers have already received their gift card supply. Health centers that are part of Direct Relief’s network of FQHCs received direct emails on earlier this month and notifications on Direct Relief’s process for ordering the cards. Other health centers can click here to learn how your health center can participate.

The Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign aims to get children and teens vaccinated so they are protected when they go back to in-person learning. Whether your organization is looking to catch children up on missed vaccines or promoting the COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents, you can find the Campaign’s many resources to promote well-child visits and vaccines on InsureKidsNow.gov.

Trying to stay on top of telehealth policy or billing changes during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic? Telehealth.HHS.gov has the latest updates on changes that may affect your practice. The one-stop resource also provides helpful guidance on telehealth legal issues, materials to help you prepare patients for successful virtual visits and more.

As part of NIOSH’s efforts to keep our stakeholders up to date on the CDC and NIOSH COVID-19 response, here is a summary of new information available

• Making Masks for the Workplace
  New information from NIOSH is available for manufacturers to produce Workplace Performance and Workplace Performance Plus masks. This new NIOSH criteria for workplace masks also meets the standard in the ASTM International Specification for Barrier Face Coverings, F3502-21.
• Types of Masks
  CDC recently updated its Types of Masks webpage to include information that identifies masks that meet a standard, including the ASTM Standard.
• Vaccinating Migrant/Migratory and Seasonal Food and Agriculture Workers
  CDC published a new webpage to help jurisdictions ensure that migrant and migratory seasonal food and agricultural workers are vaccinated. The webpage addresses the unique challenges and best practices for providing vaccines to these workers.

The U.S. surpassed another milestone in its efforts to vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that more than 300 million vaccines doses have so far been administered across the country. Even if the United States meets President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination goal for first doses by Jul 4, now less than a month away, at least 30 states will not hit the 70 percent mark among their own adult residents. One-dose vaccine coverage hit 63 percent.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is urging parents to get their teenagers vaccinated against COVID-19 after an alarming spike in hospitalizations among young coronavirus patients. About 24 percent of kids ages 12 to 17 have received at least one dose. Before most were eligible for the vaccine, about one-third of teens who were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 wound up in the intensive care unit, according to the CDC. Nearly five percent of those cases were put on respirators. None of the patients died. CDC Director Rochelle Walenksy said she is “deeply concerned by the numbers of hospitalized adolescents.”

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on Wednesday warned providers they must administer COVID-19 vaccines free to patients. In a letter to providers and insurers, Becerra said providers cannot require patients to get additional medical services to receive a vaccine or charge them a fee if a vaccine dose is the only medical service they provide. Instead, they can bill Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance or other health coverage to cover the costs of administering a vaccine. They can also bill the Health Resources and Services Administration if patients are uninsured or underinsured.

Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled legislature voted to end Gov. Wolf’s emergency declaration, while extending hundreds of regulatory waivers the administration approved over the past 15 months. On June 9, the Senate amended HB 854 to extend the waivers until Sept. 30, 2021 or sooner if the entity that issued the waiver terminates the waiver. This will give the legislature and the Governor time to negotiate which waivers to continue or terminate. The administration’s authority to revise mitigation orders, such as mask wearing, is not covered by the lawmakers actions.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, staff in nursing homes have been providing ongoing care to our nation’s most vulnerable. It’s on trusted messengers like you to make sure we’re reaching people who need to be protected from the COVID-19 virus.

Building vaccine confidence among Long-Term Care Facility staff and residents is important. That’s why we wanted to pass along useful data, materials, and resources to be able to guide conversations, answer questions, and help get people vaccinated.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Resources: 

• Long-Term Care Community Champions – Voices from the Front Lines Videos: CMS has released videos with long-term care staff who moved from being initially uncertain about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine to accepting it, and encouraging their peers to do the same. The videos are available here:
  • Long-Term Care Community Champions – Video #1
  • Long-Term Care Community Champions – Video #2
  • Long-Term Care Community Champions – Video #3
• COVID-19 Nursing Home Data – As part of CMS’ commitment to protect nursing home residents, nursing homes are now required to report vaccinations of residents and staff.  These data are available on this webpage.
• Fireside Chat Recordings – This webpage holds all CMS COVID-19 partner calls, including CDC/CMS hosted fireside chats answering long-term facility staff questions about COVID-19 vaccination.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Resources:  

• Vaccination Toolkit for Long-Term Care Facilities – This toolkit includes key COVID-19 vaccination information, strategies for initiating discussions about vaccination, and a variety of printable resources to build vaccine confidence among long-term care facility residents and staff.
  • Fact Sheet: Answering Common Long-Term Care Staff Questions about COVID-19 Vaccines
  • Poster: Long-Term Care Facility Staff: Reasons to Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19 Today
  • Sample Letter to Staff About COVID-19 Vaccination
• Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine in Long-Term Care Facilities – Many long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are offering on-site vaccination for residents and staff. This webpage has more information about how LTCFs can access vaccines, and a list of long-term care pharmacies participating in the  Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.
• #GetVaccinated – This American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) webpage has additional resources to help long-term care staff make informed decisions about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
• Vaccines for COVID-19 | CDC 
  • Myths and Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines
  • FAQs about COVID-19 Vaccination