McAuliffe Calls on All Nursing Home, Assisted Living and Residential Facilities Serving Virginia Seniors to Require Employee Vaccines Against COVID-19

From the McAuliffe for Governor campaign:

MCLEAN, VA – Terry McAuliffe today called on all nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other residential facilities serving seniors in Virginia to require their staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of his new plan, “Supporting Virginia’s Seniors: Ensuring Quality and Affordability Later in Life,” to lift up seniors as he rebuilds a stronger post-COVID economy in the Commonwealth. Today’s announcement comes on the heels of Terry’s previous calls for all health systems, school divisions, and colleges and universities in the Commonwealth to institute the same requirement. Terry for Virginia was also the first campaign in the nation to require its staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

This latest plan, Terry’s 19th, represents his unwavering commitment to improving quality of life, expanding opportunities for affordable care, and lifting up all Virginians. As Virginia’s next governor, Terry will ensure every nursing home, assisted living facility and other residential facility serving seniors has the resources needed to implement CDC guidelines and mandate vaccinations for staff serving seniors. He will also hold these facilities accountable to meet CDC guidelines and keep seniors safe from COVID-19.

“The COVID-19 virus has created unprecedented challenges for Virginians and particularly for seniors, who have faced the worst outcomes of this pandemic,” said Terry McAuliffe. “All eligible Virginians must be fully vaccinated in order to stop this virus in its tracks, especially those who care for vulnerable populations and our seniors. That’s why I am calling on all employees in Virginia nursing homes, assisted living and other residential facilities that serve seniors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. It’s critically important for the health and safety of all Virginians.”

Terry’s plan details how he will work to improve health care affordability for seniors by lowering the cost of health care and prescription drugs, expanding programs to keep costs down, and investing in Virginia’s health care workforce. As governor, Terry will also work to create a specialized savings plan to help seniors access home modifications, personal care, services, and technologies needed to support aging in place.

As Virginia’s 72nd Governor, Terry fought to provide quality, affordable care for seniors by expanding Medicaid, a program utilized by 60% of all nursing home residents to cover their long-term care needs. Terry also expanded the No Wrong Doors program, which connects Virginia’s seniors to more than 27,000 programs and services offered in the Commonwealth including assistance for home care, transportation, meals, and more.

While Terry has consistently fought to lower the costs of aging and connect seniors to the resources and support they need, Glenn Youngkin has a track record of putting profits first when it comes to seniors. Youngkin’s company​​ owned a nursing home chain that was accused of neglect, malpractice, wrongful death, and fraud, and exposed tens of thousands of patients to serious health risks, including at locations in Virginia. Under Youngkin’s leadership as co-CEO at Carlyle Group, the company raised the cost of rent for seniors, forcing residents on fixed incomes to choose between food, medicine, and housing.

Terry has released 19 detailed plans to strengthen Virginia’s education system and dramatically increase teacher pay, help secure Virginia’s economic recovery from COVID-19, reform our criminal justice system, ensure Virginians have access to regular nutritious meals, address the broken, predatory system of prescription drug pricing, confront the gun violence epidemic, make Virginia the best state in the nation for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Health Care (STEM-H) and computer science education, tackle the housing crisis in the Commonwealth and invest in Virginia’s workforce in the post-COVID economy, ensure Virginians have access to high-quality, affordable health care, tackle climate change and secure Virginia’s clean energy future by 2035, lift up Black Virginians as the Commonwealth rebuilds from the COVID-19 pandemic, further advance LGBTQ+ rights, create a flourishing rural economy, support entrepreneurial ecosystems and tackle rising costs and meet the health care needs and make higher education more affordable.

To read more about Terry’s plans for Virginia’s future, visit www.TerryMcAuliffe.com.