On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced a six-week campaign aimed at urging Americans to get their updated COVID-19 vaccine. The campaign is focused on reaching older adults and people with disabilities.
The plan is to add mobile units in rural areas, stage pop-up vaccine clinics, and provide millions of dollars for community health centers to pick up the pace.
The administration also wants the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to make it clear that if nursing homes fail to offer the vaccine and educate staff on its benefits, there will be consequences.
Dana Kennedy is the state director of AARP Arizona. "We don't know if they're going to be fined, if they don't do that," Kennedy said.
Something else says Kennedy: "We looked at the inspector general report that came out, you know, several months ago, and the Arizona Department of Health Services wasn't doing a great job in many areas, including vaccinating and making sure that residents as well as staff in these facilities are getting the most recent booster shots."
Arizona has one of the lowest vaccination rates among staff and residents.
