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MDHHS Issues Order To Ensure Nursing Homes Offer On-Site COVID-19 Booster Shots

(CBS DETROIT) - The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued an epidemic order to ensure residents at nursing homes have the opportunity to get COVID-19 booster shots where they reside.

The MDHHS says under the order, nursing homes are required to offer on-site COVID-19 vaccines to residents who are not up to date as of Jan. 20, 2022, within 30 days of the effective date of the order.

"With the Omicron variant rapidly spreading across our state and cases of COVID-19 continuing to remain high, we want to make sure our most vulnerable Michiganders are protected from the virus," said Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director. "The COVID-19 vaccine is our best defense against the virus, and we want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to get up to date."

The order does not require nursing home residents to get vaccinated.

Nursing homes are encouraged to provide residents with informational material about COVID-19 vaccines so that residents can make informed decisions.

If a resident is unable to make their own medical decisions, nursing homes are required to contact the individual legally authorized to make medical decisions on behalf of the resident and let them know that booster doses will be available on-site.

Nursing homes must document a resident's consent or refusal of an offered COVID-19 vaccine.

Officials say 100% of facilities in Michigan have offered the first and second doses of the vaccine, and almost 74% of residents have already received a booster dose.

For more information, visit here.

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