MDHHS issues order ensuring nursing homes offer on-site COVID-19 vaccination to protect residents

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced it has issued an epidemic order aimed at further protecting nursing home residents across Michigan by ensuring residents have the opportunity to get up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccines where they reside.

“With the Omicron variant rapidly spreading across our state and cases of COVID-19 continuing to remain high, we want to make sure our most vulnerable Michiganders are protected from the virus,” said Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director. “The COVID-19 vaccine is our best defense against the virus, and we want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to get up to date.”

Under the order, which can be viewed below, nursing homes must offer on-site doses of COVID-19 vaccines to residents who are not up to date as of Jan. 20, 2022, within 30 days of the effective date of the order.

The order does not require residents to get vaccinated, but the homes are required to provide informational materials regarding the COVID-19 vaccines so residents may make informed choices. Residents who are unable to make their own medical decisions will have the person legally authorized to make those decisions on their behalf contacted by the nursing home to make them aware of the availability of booster doses on-site.

The nursing home must document a resident’s consent or refusal of a vaccine offered.

To date, 74% of eligible Michigan nursing home residents have already received a booster dose. Almost 2.6 million booster and third doses have been administered in the state, with nearly 1 million of those doses given to Michiganders ages 65 and older.

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