NYAPRS Note: The number of partially to fully vaccinated staff at NYS Prisons and Developmental Centers lags far behind the 50% rate at which most New Yorkers have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. Very disturbingly, only 26% of prison staff and 36% of residents at the prisons have had one dose or more. Only 31% of Developmental Center staff have done so, in contrast to 85% of residents and 66% of both staff and residents at the psychiatric center have received at 1-2 doses.
It’s very hard to know what these numbers really mean since people need both dosages of the heavily used Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be fully protected from getting or giving the virus. And it’s equally necessary to understand why the vaccination rates for residents at all of the above facilities lag significantly behind the 80% rate at the state’s nursing homes.
The bottom line is that too many New Yorkers who live in those facilities remain at significant risk for infection, even in the face of efforts to mitigate the spread (masks, distancing). And, unlike the general public, there’s absolutely no difficulty in locating and encouraging people to take the vaccine.
The state must dramatically accelerate such efforts….and, as NYAPRS and our disability advocacy colleagues regularly insist, redouble efforts to close or shrink institutions and to serve and/or house New Yorkers in community settings.
New Yorkers Move Forward On Vaccine But Institutions Lagging
Low Levels Among Prison Correctional Officers, Workers For The Disabled In Group Homes
ALBANY – Fifty percent of New Yorkers have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last week.
But for the workers who care for, guard and oversee those in New York’s vast system of developmental centers, psychiatric hospitals and prisons, the vaccination rate is lower, in some cases strikingly so.
As of this week, 31 percent, or 22,037, of those who care for people who live in centers for the developmentally disabled have gotten at least one dose against COVID-19.
Advocates worry that the number is too low, especially as these centers are battling staff shortages brought on by the pandemic. Those centers are operated or certified by the state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities.
The numbers for people who work in psychiatric centers is higher, with 65 percent, or about 8,600, of the 13,264 employees at OMH facilities, having received at least one dose.
“OMH continues to educate and offer vaccination opportunities to staff who are either hesitant to receive the vaccine or previously declined,” said OMH spokesman James Plastiras.
“All employees, whether or not they receive the vaccine, continue to follow infection-control protocols, including pre-arrival screening, mask-wearing, social distancing and being offered on-site COVID-19 antigen testing,” Plastiras said, echoing precautions at other state institutions.
In both the OMH and OPWDD facilities, the numbers are a concern given that people who live in these centers have little choice about who they are exposed to from day to day.
Vaccination rates also remain relatively low for those working in prisons: 7,538, or about 26 percent, of the 26,000 correctional officers and others in the prison system, have had at least one dose.
Vaccination rates for residents, in-patients and inmates are higher. Almost 85 percent, or 31,683, of the roughly 38,000 who live in developmental settings have received at least one vaccine dose, according to OPWDD.
For psychiatric facilities, 66 percent of the 3,338 in-patients have had at least one dose, said OMH.
And for prison inmates, nearly 36 percent, or 11,349, of the 31,801 people in the system have been vaccinated, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
“This is on par with national figures showing that 32% of individuals incarcerated in the U.S. have received at least one dose of the vaccine,” DOCCS said in a prepared statement.
The agency said it has about 2,873 remaining incarcerated people in different facilities who have expressed interest and will receive the vaccine in the coming days. It said it will have completed offering the vaccine to the entire incarcerated population at all 50 facilities by May 21, at which time it will resurvey the population.
Close Quarters
Still, low rates for employees is a problem since they are in constant close contact in close quarters with residents, patients and inmates.
That means the spread of COVID remains a real worry despite the easing of the pandemic in the outside world.
“While we appreciate efforts by the state and the unions to raise the vaccination rate of those who serve in our state hospitals, we are nonetheless in a very troubling environment where one out of every three staff has the capacity to spread the virus,” said Harvey Rosenthal CEO New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services.
“The stakes here are much higher here in that a large number of residents on the units and on the grounds have chronic conditions that put them at much greater risk to be infected and where social distancing is much harder to maintain in institutional settings,” he added.
Adding to the problem is that many residents of developmental centers and psychiatric hospitals may not be fully aware of the pandemic or how it’s spread or prevented. There are concerns that unvaccinated or infected employees may unwittingly spread the virus to people in their care.
That’s what’s believed to have happened last month when a Sullivan County woman, who wanted to remain unnamed, said her 40-year-old son likely caught COVID-19 from an aide at a care facility where he lives.
The aide came in one day, even though he told his supervisors he felt ill, said the woman.
“While he was waiting for (COVID) test results they let him come back to work,” she said.
That day, she spoke with the man as she came to pick up her son to take him to see his father, who lives out of state.
After learning of the man’s positive results, the woman and her son were tested and both had COVID as well.
They have both since recovered but the event was “unsettling,” she said.
Staffing Levels Raised
Part of the problem may be chronic staff shortages, especially in OPWDD facilities, which have long struggled with high turnover.
“They have a huge staffing shortage,” said Jeff Monsour, a longtime OPWDD direct care worker and frequent critic of the agency.
Monsour said he has seen his agency “float” workers from one group home to another as needed. That may work in normal times but it can pose a contagion risk if the floater is a COVID-19 carrier.
To illustrate the employee shortage – which is being seen in nearly every sector of the economy – Monsour noted that last month the Albany DDSO, or sector around the greater Capital Region, had 263 openings. That DDSO usually has a fraction of that in normal times, he said.
Direct care workers, aides, correctional officers and others are not required to get vaccinated.
OPWDD said that “As the second largest state agency and with a workforce of about 20,000 statewide, the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities is always hiring to fill a variety of positions within our system. As with all human services fields nationwide, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on an already shrinking field of available workers and OPWDD is taking an active role along with our providers of services on finding solutions to the workforce issues faced by our field.”
The agency added that “In homes where positive cases of COVID-19 have been identified OPWDD only allows the reassignment of staff when absolutely necessary to maintain crucial staffing levels if there is no other option to ensure safety.”
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/New-Yorkers-move-forward-on-COVID-vaccine-but-16189127.php