COVID-19 Updates (Week of 11/01/2022)

COVID-19 Booster Updates

Booster Shots are currently available for adults 65+ years old and for certain at-risk individuals age 18+, including healthcare workers, who completed their primary series at least 6 months ago with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.

All Johnson & Johnson recipients age 18+ are eligible for a booster shot as long as it’s been at least 2 months since their first dose.

Anyone who is eligible for a booster shot may receive the same vaccine or a different one if they prefer. For example, those who received Pfizer for their first two shots may receive Moderna as their booster.

Read FDA Press Release

FDA Advisory Panel Recommends Pfizer Vaccine for Kids Ages 5 to 11

The FDA’s independent panel of advisers recommended last week that the agency issue an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children 5 to 11 years old. Pfizer's data reports that the vaccine is safe and 90.7% effective in preventing COVID-19 infections in this age group. Read more from NPR.

Fourth COVID-19 Shot May Be Needed for Immunocompromised

"People with certain health conditions that make them moderately or severely immunocompromised may get a fourth mRNA COVID-19 shot, according to updated guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC authorized a third dose for certain immunocompromised people 18 and older in August. It said a third dose, rather than a booster -- the CDC makes a distinction between the two -- was necessary because the immunocompromised may not have had a complete immune response from the first two doses," CNN reports.

FY 2022 Home Health Final Rule Released

The FY 2022 Home Health Final Rule went on display at the Federal Register’s Public Inspection Desk today, 11/02/2021, and will be available under special filings at: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2021-23993.pdf

Click Here to view a summary of the Rule as it appears in the posting. More detailed analyses will be forthcoming. Additionally, NAHC is conducting two webinars this Friday to review the final rule and its implications on home health and on hospice. Details regarding the webinars can be found here.

Among other things, the 2022 Final Rule expands the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model nationwide. Throughout 2022, CMS will provide technical assistance to HHAs to ensure they understand how performance will be assessed. The first performance year will begin January 1, 2023, and adjustments will be made to HHA Medicare fee-for-service payments in 2025 (according to their performance in 2023). To learn more, please visit the Expanded HHVBP Model webpage.

CHAP COVID-19 Conference Call

When: Thursday, December 2, 2021 | 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. MT

During this call, CHAP will be discussing the three sources of pending regulation (due in the next 30 days) and how they will impact handling of vaccination mandates. In addition, the impact of the PHE extension on daily operations will be addressed.

Call in Number: 646-307-1479

Participant Code: 246854#

Retraining the Brain to Treat Chronic Pain

More than 25 million people in the U.S. live with chronic pain, defined as pain that lasts for more than three months. Despite costing the health care system more than $600 billion a year, existing treatments for chronic pain fail to provide relief for many people.

The most common type of chronic pain is chronic back pain. In about 85% of cases, no physical cause for the pain—such as arthritis or disk damage—can be found. Such unexplained pain is thought to be caused by brain changes after an injury that persist even after the damage heals.

These changes in the brain are thought to serve an important purpose immediately after tissue damage. They provide a warning signal to restrict movement and let the body recover. However, if they continue to send that signal after the injury has healed, the result can be chronic pain.

Researchers have developed a type of treatment called pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) to help the brain “unlearn” this kind of pain. PRT teaches people to perceive pain signals sent to the brain as less threatening. Therapists help participants do painful movements while helping them re-evaluate the sensations they experience. The treatment also includes training in managing emotions that may make pain feel worse.

For the first clinical test of PRT, a team at the University of Colorado, Boulder led by Dr. Yoni Ashar (now at Weill Cornell Medical College) and Dr. Tor Wager (now at Dartmouth College) enrolled 151 people with mild to moderate chronic back pain for which no physical cause could be found. Participants received one of three treatments: four weeks of intensive PRT, a placebo injection of saline into the back, or a continuation of care as usual.

Participants rated their pain before and four weeks after starting treatment. They also underwent fMRI scans to look at brain activity before and after treatment. The team followed up with participants one year later.

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