Forced COVID vaccine in senior living communities?

I had to sign consent forms for my mother to receive the vaccines. I was asked if I chose this for her and she wanted it. She is now in a NH facility.

I haven't questioned this but I wonder if facilities could be more forceful with residents who choose not to be vaccinated and stricter quarantine for them. Nobody in this facility is going anywhere except maybe outside. I think you just ask that question of them. If all staff gets vaccinated and and a majority of residents then I guess eventually there is not as much concern.

If she is Catholic, the Pope said it is a "moral and ethical OBLIGATION" to take the vaccine and I believe that he has taken it already.

Religious reasons? Do they think God wants them to die a painful death?

After pondering this, for a while after my post and I think a comment on the subject I may have had a gut reaction and upon further reflection...
It is the individuals right to choose to have the vaccination or not.
Residents in skilled nursing that have few, if any visitors and never leave the facility are relatively safe.
Residents in Memory Care also have few visitors.
Residents in IL and Al have more contact with people but are also more able to take precautions make an informed decision as to having the vaccine or not.
Anyone that has a medical or religious reason for abstaining from the vaccine is within their right not to have it.
I stated that a facility may require the resident to be vaccinated or ask them to leave but they really can not do that. ALL facilities that are licensed would have to allow residents to make the choice to be vaccinated or not.
If I were still caring for my Husband it would be my right to require anyone that came into the house to care for him be vaccinated.
So I guess I am retracting my previous stance on this.
Nothing like sitting on a fence in a storm!

My nephew works at a large teaching hospital attached to a university. He’s received both doses. As an aside, he and his coworkers had little issue with the first round vaccine but almost all of them became ill with the second. Most ran fever, had muscle and joint pain, and congestion, many leaving work to go home and as he put it “sleep it off” They all felt better in 24-36 hours and still considered it worth having the vaccine. The unintended consequence was that some at the hospital then refused the second dose after hearing of the illness, albeit quick, in the coworkers who’d had it. But anyway, nephew has been told in his many meetings on vaccine that it cannot be required of anyone anywhere to have it because it’s being used under FDA emergency authorization, and that makes it ineligible from any requirement

Since several people here are determined to tell everyone how to live, I will put in my opinion. It would be insane to ask someone who already lives in a facility to leave because they won't accept a practically untested, possibly dangerous - short term OR long term, not all that effective vaccine. They did not sign up for that, and the facility is their HOME. I would sue the facility if they demanded my LO leave. Even our HOA covenant commission, which I am on, agrees they cannot enforce most of the new changes being decided upon on current residents, but must grandfather them - same thing.

My mom is in a GA nursing home and they are not requiring the vaccination. The nursing home contacted us as to whether we wanted her to have it, but we told them that was mom's decision and she was capable of making it.

390,738. That's the number of US deaths from COVID thru today. We're losing the fight against this terrible virus and yet an inordinate number of people choose not to receive the vaccine. Some say the process has been rushed thru and the vaccine didn't get enough scrutiny. We're in a Pandemic for Pete's sake. The normal approval time for a drug or vaccine is 12-15 years. Are you willing to wait? How many more millions will die? Those opting out of the vaccine only prolong the eradication of the disease. The vaccine protects one at a time while the disease grows exponentially.

Numbers of people who have died after getting the vaccine has to be put into context. 23 have died in Norway quotes one post, out of how many administered- 2300, 23,000, 230,000? And what underlying medical conditions did they have? How old were they? What are the specifics? According to the Sun, a UK publication, "The Norwegian Medicine Agency confirms the number of incidents so far is not alarming, and in line with expectations” and “Earlier this week, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said that any side effects of the vaccine will be outweighed by a reduced risk of becoming seriously ill with Covid for elderly people.”

The USA's EEOC has ruled that employers may indeed require the vaccine as a condition of employment with few exceptions. Why wouldn't it also apply to care facilities?

There are already over 2 million deaths from the disease worldwide. None of them had the choice of receiving the vaccine. I'm sure they would have loved to have that choice.

IMO, no one can be forced to take a vaccine. No matter where you live IL, AL and LTC you are a resident with rights. Even AL facilies are under State regulations private or not. They get inspected just like NHs.

Me, I don't think its been tested long enough. I will wait.

People are should not be required to get vaccine for religious or other reasons. But if , even as an individual home owner said I do not want anyone in my home unless they have been vaccinated that should be my right

In the same way, it is the right of a private senior facility to impose the rules it wants. If people dont like the rules, they cannot be compelled to get vaccine, but facility can also have them leave.

Freedom of the individual apples to our legal system. Someone should nto hae to face legal action if they refuse a vaccine. But another private party, ie a senior living facility, also has the right to impose the rules it wants.

How can you be 'for freedom of the individual' yet want mandatory vaccinations in senior living residences? That doesn't make sense to me. Nor does attaching a 'religious' significance to a brand new 'warp speed' vaccine that's been rushed through w/o proper testing, especially on elderly folks.

That said, I also don't see what difference it makes if your mother gets the vaccine and her neighbor does not. If the vaccine works, then your mother is 'immune' from getting the virus, but her neighbor is not, right? So, all you have to be concerned with is your mother's immunity. Unless 85% or so of the entire country gets the vaccine, which is highly unlikely unless the government forces us to in order to go grocery shopping, then 'herd immunity' isn't going to happen ANYWAY.

My mother is 94 and lives in Memory Care Assisted Living. She will be vaccinated on the 22nd. She and all the others were, of course, given the option to get the vaccine or to decline it. I agreed to it, as her POA, and signed the papers. Hopefully she won't have a bad reaction to it and require medical attention. She may still get Covid19, as many who are vaccinated DO, but get milder symptoms. Or she may not get it at all, as none of the 123 residents in the entire ALF have, to date. There are no guarantees with ANY of this mess, that's for sure.

Does mom get a regular flu shot?
Has she had a Shingles shot?
Has she had other vaccinations during her life?
this is just another in a series of vaccinations.
If she chooses not to have a vaccination the facility has the right to ask her to find another IL facility. I bet it would be difficult to find one that would accept someone that refuses to get the vaccination.
there is what is called Herd Immunity and if the majority of people in the facility have the vaccination she would be "safe" IF she remains within the community but if she leaves for an outing, to go to the doctor, to get her hair done, to go to lunch with you she places herself as well as others in the community at risk.
Yes people have the right to refuse the vaccination, they have the right to refuse medical care but the facility also has a duty to protect others in the community. And there are some that can not get the vaccine due to other medical conditions and they are more at risk.

I was asked permission and if I had a wish for my 90 year old mother now in skilled nursing to receive the vaccine. I consented. There is also a AL facility next door where she used to reside and a IL building across a driveway. This certainly leads me to believe that consent is requested and the choice to refuse a possibility. I am not sure but I imagine a vaccine cannot be forced. If one is vaccinated they should hopefully be protected from those who choose not to be should they become infected.

"Anyway, my mom, a religious person herself said other religious residents are choosing not to get the vaccine. "

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, individuals have the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of religion. As part of their religious beliefs, many individuals object to vaccines and cannot be forced to get them.

Nobody is being forced to get vaccinated here but in a recent news story the director of a nursing home who was being interviewed said that they had about 90% of their residents sign up, with a handful more opting to wait for the Moderna vaccine that would be available at a later date. Staff compliance may prove to be more problematic.

No one over 80 was included in the vaccine trials and with all the reporting coming out, I can see why these residents are refusing. Norway, a wealthy country with an excellent health care system, has deemed the vaccine unsafe for the elderly. 23 there have died after getting the Pfizer vaccine. Similar tales are coming out of Montreal and NY. Seems like people think the vaccine is some sort of covid miracle but it’s not. It doesn’t stop the virus from spreading and no one knows how long the immunity will last. If your mother got the vaccine, why are you worried? Isn’t she protected now?

Your mother is free not to live at the IL if she (Or you) doesn’t like the rules either. It goes both ways you know. And assisted livings have been in the first groups to get the vaccine across the country.

I still believe, vaccine available or not, the current precautions should be followed and are the primary defense. So long as someone would be following those guidelines I would not have issues. Everyone should have the right to make their own health care decisions. If you are opposed to this then you and other residents have the right to move out. But that's just my perspective. I would be very angry to not have the right to say no and be forced to move, if I was otherwise comfortable. My aunt is in an assisted living out of state that was providing the vaccine. She intended to get it and had no issues. I do. And I am staying out of it in re to my elder parents who live independently. I AM very concerned about my father's decision as he has a history of adverse reactions to numerous drugs...and I am talking the more obscure reactions in the tiny print of a PDR. I'm the one who winds up having to deal with the crises which have included ER visits where they couldn't believe it. For him especially, I think the risks outweigh the benefits, but I do expect him to take all other precautions.

The COVID-19 vaccines are not required because they are still not officially fully approved by the FDA. They are now only used under emergency approval. When they get full approval from the FDA, maybe policies at long-term care will change, but for now, these businesses can't require residents or even their employees to get the vaccine. Also--the vaccine doesn't prevent you from "catching" the virus, even after two doses. It is designed to prevent you from getting very sick if you catch the virus, and they hope it will make people less likely to spread the virus to others (reducing transmission). So keep in mind the vaccine at present, even when used perfectly, isn't a magic bullet that will end the pandemic this year.

I do know that we had to take flu shots at my hospital in order to work on the floors; there had to be a REAL medical reason not to submitted; otherwise you might work some other areas or choose not to work there. That was many years ago. So that would be on workers.
At this point I consider it somewhat Darwinian. I just heard yesterday that France has at least FIFTY PERCENT of its populace refusing vaccine. That is more than likely the 50% that will be more likely to die of Covid-19. As I said, Darwinian. Adapt, learn, or..................................