Please share this guidance with appropriate LTCF staff
Thank you all for supporting your members fight against COVID-19. Some of you and your members have had questions and concerns about the impact of post-COVID-19-vaccination systemic signs and symptoms on healthcare staffing in LTCF. The following CDC resources address those concerns and can help facilities prepare:
Can staff with post vaccination symptoms work with appropriate PPE? And, can staff work after a negative antigen test?
As stated in the above-provided CDC guidance, HCP with the presence of ANY systemic signs and symptoms (e.g., fever, fatigue, headache, chills, myalgia, arthralgia) that are consistent with post-vaccination signs and symptoms, SARS-CoV-2 infection, or another infectious etiology (e.g., influenza) may be considered for return to work without viral testing for SARS-CoV-2 if they meet all of the following criteria:
- Feel well enough
- Are willing to work
- Are afebrile
- Systemic signs and symptoms are limited only to those observed following COVID-19 vaccination (i.e., do not have other signs and symptoms of COVID-19 including cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, or change in smell or taste).
If symptomatic HCP return to work, they should be advised to contact occupational health services (or another designated individual) if symptoms are not improving or persist for more than 2 days. Pending further evaluation, they should be excluded from work and viral testing should be considered. If feasible, viral testing could be considered for symptomatic HCP earlier to increase confidence in the cause of their symptoms.
If performed, a negative SARS-CoV-2 antigen test in HCP who have symptoms that are limited only to those observed following COVID-19 vaccination (i.e., do not have cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, or change in smell or taste) may not require confirmatory SARS-CoV-2 NAAT testing.
HCP with the presence of ANY systemic signs and symptoms consistent with SARS-CoV-2 infection (e.g., cough, shortness of breath, rhinorrhea, sore throat, loss of taste or smell) or another infectious etiology (e.g., influenza) that are not typical for post-vaccination signs and symptoms.
These HCPs should be considered for exclusion from work pending evaluation for possible etiologies, including SARS-CoV-2 infection, as appropriate. Criteria for return to work depends on the suspected or confirmed diagnosis. Information on return to work for HCP with SARS-CoV-2 infection is available here.
If performed, a negative SARS-CoV-2 antigen test in HCP who have signs and symptoms that are not typical for post-vaccination signs and symptoms should be confirmed by SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). Further information on testing is available here.
Additional guidance to mitigate staff shortages when work restrictions are recommended but there are no longer enough staff to provide safe patient care is available in Strategies to Mitigate Healthcare Personnel Staffing Shortages.
Please widely disseminate this information to your members to alleviate any staff or staffing concerns.
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