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PHCA says Pa.’s nursing home vaccination data reports are inaccurate

  • By Hayden Mitman/WLVR
A nurse administers the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to a health worker on Jan. 30, 2021.

 Abdeljalil Bounhar / AP Photo

A nurse administers the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to a health worker on Jan. 30, 2021.

The advocacy group for residents of Pennsylvania’s long-term care facilities disputes state data regarding vaccinations. Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said 80% of nursing home residents had been vaccinated and half of the staff.

The Pennsylvania Health Care Association says the rate is actually higher.

The PHCA found 85% of residents and more than 60% of nursing home staff have been vaccinated

Zach Shamberg, president of the association, says the way the state collected vaccine information was confusing.

“Some providers entered cumulative data versus other providers entering current data. We believe this is one cause of these data discrepancies,” Shamberg says.

The PHCA claims the state reported incorrect data for nearly 100 nursing homes. In some cases, vaccination totals made up more than the actual number of residents or staff in facilities.

In some cases, Shamberg says, totals were off by 400%.

“In other words, more residents had accepted or declined the vaccine than the number of actual residents in the facility,” he says.

Moving forward, Shamberg says the DOH has accepted corrections to its data.

He also implored nursing homes throughout the state to review individual results to ensure all reports are accurate in the future.

WLVR reached out to the Department of Health for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

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