COVID vaccines and rehab: thoughts?

The vaccination is a personal choice. Choices do come with consequences both good and bad. Some people choose to play it safe and get vaccinated. Choices do not surpass medical facility requirements.

OP states further down this thread that her mother has had her first shot.

I don't know the living situation with your mother, but can she have rehab come into her home? Can a relative stay with her at home and provide the basics (cooking, bathing, etc.) and have in-home PT and nurses stop by? My mom came home after a fall & break and we had the visits of PT, OT, and nurses, but she also lives with me, so I was able to do the cooking, cleaning, etc. It was covered by Medicare.

It may not apply in your situation, but hopefully it's an option for you.

ALFs and SNFs are trying to keep COVID infections down. Yes, people are getting admitted to hospitals from ALFs and SNFs with COVID infections. (I work on a COVID unit in a hospital.) It is about keeping everybody healthy and safe. Sorry the timing is difficult.

Gingerroot2: I cannot see which state or locality that you reside in as it is missing from your profile, else I would have done a google search. Prayers sent.

I worked my county health dept Covid hotline.

It’s 3 weeks (Pfizer) or 4 weeks (Moderna) between the first and second dose. When those 2 vaccines are given, they are considered highly effective but that effectiveness degrades over time (the booster is a minimum of 6 months later). Apply logic: A person vaccinated in Jan 2021 with no booster isn’t well protected in March 2022 but a person (let’s say your mom) vaccinated in March 2022 is highly protected even without the booster.

Explain the logic to the PT group. They should understand this and be willing to waive the booster requirement. You should be able to get her in PT in 3 weeks & it might take that long to get an appointment.

She was eligible for vaccination as a first priority group in early 2021. Unfortunately inaction has consequences. To “jab” anti-vaxxers, the elderly & vulnerable are high risk and the elderly and vulnerable often need physical therapy.

What state are you in? So many states are FINALLY starting to reduce their rules about vaxxing and masking. Maybe you can call corporate for these nursing homes and see if they are getting on board with that or is there is a workaround?

I think that's just horrible that they won't let her in without THREE jabs. My goodness. So sorry.

Ask her doctor or pharmacist about access to the booster, when and where.

We've had the vaccine available for a year. I cannot help but wonder why on earth she hadn't had her shots sooner.

About the efficacy of the vaccine and related questions, go to the CDC website.

Sorry to sound callous, but with "freedom" comes responsibility, and that includes for the life of others. What a shame that she and many others did not get vaccinated. Perhaps you can keep her with you, with outside help, until she can go into a facility?

I got my shots through the local county, but not in the parades that the County Exec orchestrated.   I went to a separate satellite site, got in in a few days, and had excellent service, with minimal exposure to others.

I don't understand the months of waiting unless you're in a remote area.   

Is there a reason you want the J&J shot?    I wouldn't even consider it when I made my selection, given the CEO's position on denial of knowledge that J&J talcum powder contained asbestos.  And no way would I EVER use J&J products again.  I threw out all J&J product that I had.

I got the Pfizer shot, with no reactions, no pain, no nothing except a small bandage. I got it at the satellite county office.

Ask the facilities  (per perhaps the discharge planner, who I assume is dealing with them) if the 2 shots would be sufficient, but also be guided by other advice here on the potential danger of getting shots while already compromised and raise the issue with one of the doctors who's treating her in the hospital.  

I hope you're able to work something out.  I wonder if the facilities are denying admission b/c she's had NO shots, and they're making conclusions she's opposed to them?

Hospitals hmedicines or access that no one else has. You tell them she needs to stay there, unsafe discharge, and chances are finding her a J&J is going to be a priority for a hosp.

If she's vaccinated but cannot clinically get a booster for two months, more rehabs than not would probably admit her. Even if all you got was the worst shot out there, you're still about 30 times more protected from death as a senior than an unvaccinated person.

Tell the social worker to find a facility that doesn't require jabs, they do exist. Call around yourself, go further away if needed.

Getting this jab when she is already in a weakened physical state is not good medical advice. Have they checked her for antibodies? She could have had an asymptotic case and has natural immunity.

Giving a jab without testing for antibodies is criminal, this is what has caused many over the top immune responses and ended with people dying from side effects.

If it's just a matter of PT to get her strength back after a hospital stay, why won't the doctor order home-based PT? Each time my mom was discharged from the hospital, home-based PT was a routine part of aftercare.

My thoughts are that I am terribly sorry your grandmother, clearly in a very endangered group for the virus, was not vaccinated. If you are certain that all rehabs are refusing admittance without a full vaccination status I guess that they have made that decision for their residents, also assumably are also in a endangered group.
I can only offer up my sympathy that this is the case for you. I hope that your posting here on Forum will help to warn others that this could happen to them.
I am hoping for the best for your grandma.