WellnessLink connects seniors to COVID boosters, testing

WellnessLink, a service started last spring by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, is making it easier for residents age 60 and older to get COVID testing, vaccination and treatment by calling a single phone number to make those appointments — and get transportation and language translation, if needed.

It’s designed to coordinate care and followup while also referring older adults to a network of resources to help them live healthily and independently at home, said Carissa Elphick, director of human services programs for the Partnership for Public Health, which administers WellnessLink. The number for residents age 60 and older to call is 1-866-452-1693.

The statewide service is designed to reach older individuals who may have trouble navigating drugstore websites to book appointments for COVID testing and booster shots. With calls from 89 residents since it began in June, the service is particularly helpful to those who don’t have access to a computer or who can’t register online.

“Healthy aging is a pubic health priority," Elphick said. "Finding information isn’t as easy as it is for someone who uses the computer all the time."

“They’re thankful I’m someone who’s going to sit and listen when they need help” and education — whatever that entails, said Molly Bragg, WellnessLink  program coordinator. She takes calls from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and can arrange for visiting nurses to come to people who are homebound.

The service is coming at an opportune time. Heading into winter and facing a return of omicron and potentially other coronavirus strains, health and long-term care officials are worried about the current fall-off in COVID booster rates among older people and seniors with chronic conditions — as well as their older caregivers.

The post-Thanksgiving bump in hospitalization rates across the country is also worrisome, said Brendan Williams, president and chief executive officer of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes and assisted living facilities statewide.

According to Nick Vin Zant, a research analyst for Quote Wizard, which gathers health data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others including the Kaiser Family Foundation, roughly 71% of New Hampshire residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but only 12% of those people have received a COVID booster. Compared with other states, New Hampshire sits in the middle for COVID vaccination and booster rates.

According to federal data from the NH Hampshire Health Care Association, the Granite State ranks ahead of the national average in number of nursing home residents who are up to date with vaccinations — 53.1% compared to 44.6% nationwide. New Hampshire ranked fifth among all states (93.9%) for nursing home residents who received the initial COVID-19 vaccination series. It now ranks 15 (ahead of Connecticut, Maine and Rhode Island but behind Massachusetts and Vermont) for the number who have gotten a bivalent COVID booster, which furnishes protection against the original strain and the new Omicron BA.4/BA.5 variants.

“We have one of the most elderly nursing home populations, and advanced years matter when it comes to susceptibility to hospitalization or death from this virus,” Williams said. "If you are the guardian for a nursing home resident, or anyone in long-term care, please embrace the science of vaccine boosters.”

In New Hampshire, the average age of nursing home residents is 82 compared with the national average of 77.8.

Dr. Nora Janeway, medical director of Health First Family Health Care Centers in Laconia and Franklin, said people have very personal beliefs when it comes to COVID vaccination, but it’s important to err on the side of caution this winter, and consult a PCP to make the best decision.

“It’s pretty clear that the triple whammy of COVID, flu and RSV are going up,” Janeway said. Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but it can be serious, especially for infants and older adults, according to the CDC.

“If there’s a hint that the booster might protect against long COVID,” that becomes a wise preventative measure, she said. “Most of us have someone elderly in the family. The thought is to avoid bringing this to someone else.  It’s unpredictable who’s going to get really sick.”

At the Belknap County Nursing Home, all residents who are eligible have received the booster shot, administrator Shelley Richardson said.

“Everyone who’s supposed to have their shot has gotten their shot,” she said.  The booster rate among staff hovers at 84%, which includes employees who are exempt from getting the shot.

This holiday season the county nursing home is advising visitors to take maximum hygiene precautions, practice social distancing and frequently wash hands and wear masks, which are required. Meals with visitors will occur in rooms with no other residents present.

The COVID transmission rate in Belknap County currently shifts between substantial and high, Richardson said, which means all staff are tested twice a week. The long-term care facility does not screen visitors and relies on people staying home when they feel sick or out of sorts.