COVID Vaccine

President Biden Announced COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements

President Biden announced COVID-19 vaccine requirements on Thursday, September 9, 2021. The new requirements include:

Requiring all employers with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccinations or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on a weekly basis.
Requiring vaccinations for all Federal Workers and Contractors that do business with the Federal Government.
Requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for health care workers at Medicare and Medicaid Participating Hospitals and Other Health Care Settings.
Requiring employers to provide paid time off to get vaccinated.
Calling on large entertainment venues to require proof of vaccination or testing for entry

The deadline for federal contractors is February 9, 2022.

Federal Appeals Court Lifts OSHA Vaccine Mandate Stay

(UPDATED December 23, 2021) OSHA will now give employers until February 9, 2022 to initiate weekly employee testing requirements. Covered employers faced a January 5, 2022 deadline for compliance or have unvaccinated employees test weekly for COVID-19.

Employers will also have until Jan. 10, 2022 to comply with the ETS' other requirements, such as development of a vaccination policy and the collection of employee vaccination data.

CBIA continues to encourage businesses to "be prepared" and understand their responsibilities related to COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates.

"While some employers may opt to take a chance and delay implementation of vaccine mandates pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, they should be mindful of the risks involved with such a decision," said CBIA HR Counsel Diane Mokriski.

Click here to read the full article

OSHA Vaccine Information

The Biden Administration released two rulings yesterday addressing the vaccine mandate. OSHA released its emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring employers with more than 100 employees to develop, implement and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, unless they adopt a policy requiring employees to choose to either be vaccinated or undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work. The ETS covers employers with 100 or more employees. That number limit is across all locations of a company so large dental practices with multiple locations with 100+ employees will be affected by this ruling. The ETS also requires employers to provide paid time to workers to get vaccinated and to allow for paid leave to recover from any side effects.

The ETS also requires employers to do the following:

Determine the vaccination status of each employee, obtain acceptable proof of vaccination status from vaccinated employees and maintain records and a roster of each employee’s vaccination status.
Require employees to provide prompt notice when they test positive for COVID-19 or receive a COVID-19 diagnosis. Employers must then remove the employee from the workplace, regardless of vaccination status; employers must not allow them to return to work until they meet required criteria.

Ensure each worker who is not fully vaccinated is tested for COVID-19 at least weekly (if the worker is in the workplace at least once a week) or within 7 days before returning to work (if the worker is away from the workplace for a week or longer).
Ensure that, in most circumstances, each employee who has not been fully vaccinated wears a face covering when indoors or when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes.

Information and Compliance Materials on the ETS

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Vaccine Information

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a ruling that applies to workers at health care facilities participating in Medicare or Medicaid. This applies regardless of whether their positions are clinical or non-clinical and to students, trainees, and volunteers. There is no masking/testing option in lieu of vaccination for health care providers. The CMS rule would only apply to dentists working in the following facilities and not to private dental offices:

Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs)
Hospices
Psychiatric residential treatment facilities (PRTFs)
Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
Hospitals (acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, hospital swing beds, long term care hospitals, children’s hospitals, transplant centers, cancer hospitals, and rehabilitation hospitals/inpatient rehabilitation facilities)
Long Term Care (LTC) Facilities including Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) and Nursing Facilities (NFs), generally referred to as nursing homes
Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs-IID)
Home Health Agencies (HHAs)
Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (CORFs)
Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)
Clinics, rehabilitation agencies, and public health agencies as providers of outpatient physical therapy and speech-language pathology services
Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs)
Home Infusion Therapy (HIT) suppliers
Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)/Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Facilities

CMS Press Release

FDA authorizes Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccine boosters for all adults

On Friday, November 19, 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized boosters of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for all adults. Click here to read the FDA Expands Eligibility for COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters press release.

**The CSDA is not organizing a COVID-19 Vaccine Booster clinic. Please contact your primary care physician, local pharmacy, or go to ct.gov/covidvaccine to make an appointment.

Talking with Your Patients About COVID-19 Vaccines

The CSDA and ADA strongly encourage dental professionals to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The health and safety have been top priority for dental professionals throughout the pandemic, and dental offices have played an important role in reducing the risk of COVID-19 and building patient confidence in dental visits. Below is a document put together by the ADA about how to speak with patients and others outside the dental office about your vaccination status against COVID-19

Download the ADA Document

Guidance for Documenting Employee COVID-19 Vaccinations

Download the ADA Document

Vaccination FAQ:

If a dental hygienist (or other clinical dental office staff) has been fully vaccinated, do they need to quarantine if a member of their household has tested positive for COVID-19?

Currently, fully vaccinated health care providers including dental hygienists "with higher-risk exposures who are asymptomatic do not need to be restricted from work for 14 days following their exposure."

Please see the link below: The important piece of this link is under number 2 - Work restriction for asymptomatic healthcare personnel and quarantine for asymptomatic patients and residents. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/infection-control-after-vaccination.html
Does the CDC’s recent update regarding the ability of people who have been fully vaccinated to interact with others and not wear facemasks apply CT’s healthcare workers?
Although the interaction with others outside of work is permitted without a facemask if both parties are fully vaccinated and in small gatherings, this does not apply to HCP at work. Recommendations for use of personal protective equipment by HCP remain unchanged. Universal facemask and 6 foot distancing still applies in healthcare settings. Click here to read the CDC updated Healthcare Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations in Response to COVID-19 Vaccination.
Can dentists ask patients about their vaccine status?
Yes, dentists can ask patients if they’ve been vaccinated as part of their patient screening questions. However, patients may decline to answer the question or they may be untruthful about their status. That is why dental offices should continue to follow the CDC’s Interim Infection Prevention and Control Guidance for Dental Settings During the Coronavirus Pandemic and treating every patient as if they are potentially infectious.