Nursing homes struggle with low booster rates, staffing issues as omicron spreads
ABC News
As the omicron variant causes a surge in coronavirus cases, many long-term care facilities are facing challenges not seen in months.
As the omicron variant causes a surge in coronavirus cases, many long-term care facilities are facing challenges not seen in months, officials from around the country tell ABC News.
Many nursing homes are struggling with low booster rates and a growing staffing crisis, said industry executives and health care advocates.
"Nursing homes are on high alert right now," said Terry Fulmer, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation, a nonprofit that works to improve care for older adults. "Omicron is highly transmissible and is spreading through communities like wildfire."
In the week ending Jan. 2, nursing homes and long-term care facilities reported close to 15,000 cases across the country, three times the infection rate from just a month ago when facilities were reporting under 5,000 cases, data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
