The CDC is recommending that all older adults get a second COVID-19 booster vaccination as soon as possible.

Why? Because the virus is evolving and becoming more difficult to prevent.

The SARS-CoV-2 omicron subvariant BA.5 is now responsible for 65% of COVID-19 infections in the United States, Ashish Jha, M.D., the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, told listeners in an online briefing. BA.5 and its BA.4 sister variant better evade immunity than earlier omicron variants and are behind an uptick in infections.

Hospitalizations have doubled since April, and although nowhere near the numbers experienced early in the pandemic, U.S. COVID-19 deaths number about 350 a day, he and his colleagues reported.

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A Natural Fit: New CMS Requirements Elevate Nursing Homes’ Behavioral Health Role

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced new rules of participation that aim to further address the rights and available services for residents with mental health needs. This is part of a larger push that CMS is making to elevate clinical practices to improve quality of care at nursing homes, industry leaders say.

The agency is aiming to address situations where practitioners or facilities may have inaccurately diagnosed or coded a resident, as well as unnecessary use of non-psychotropic drugs and antipsychotics, championing gradual dose reduction for residents that may have come into the setting on such medications.

These updates are part of a larger push by CMS and other agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to elevate clinical practices to improve quality of care at nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the country.

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