Auburn, NY – An Auburn nursing home says a national group’s claim that the Covid-19 vaccine may have killed some of its residents is “blatantly false.”
A post on the website published on Sunday by the Ron Paul Institute suggests, without any evidence, that the Covid-19 vaccine may have caused 24 deaths at The Commons in St. Anthony. The post provided a link to a Syracuse.com story published on Saturday, which reported that an outbreak of Covid-19 in the 300-bed nursing home infected 137 residents, 24 of whom died. The Syracuse.com story also reported that the nursing home, operated by Loretto, had started vaccinating residents against the virus.
The health facility says the group’s claim is misleading, the outbreak began before the vaccine was administered and some of the residents who died were not vaccinated.
The Ron Paul Institute post says:
“Things seem to be going backwards at The Commons at St. Anthony’s nursing home in Auburn, New York. Vaccination of people should reduce or eliminate deaths from coronavirus. Right? But at The Commons, these deaths were reported to have occurred only after residents started receiving coronavirus vaccines. “
Julie Sheedy, a Loretto employee, said the site was spreading “false and dangerously misleading information”.
She said the outbreak in nursing homes began in December, before the Covid-19 vaccine was available. The first resident tested positive on December 16 and an outbreak of additional cases was confirmed on December 21, Sheedy said. The nursing home began vaccinating residents on December 22.
“We certainly wish that vaccines were available earlier to help prevent the devastation caused by this virus,” said Sheedy. “But the claims and deadlines on this site are dangerously speculative and factually incorrect. We hope that the community knows that it should not rely on unverified information – whether on the web, on social media or in person. “
The first deaths of Covid-19 residents in the nursing home were reported on December 29 by the Cayuga County Health Department. Sheedy said some of the residents who died were vaccinated, but did not say how many.
“Given the incubation period we know of for this virus, our facilities were affected before vaccines were available for administration,” she said.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it takes a few weeks for the body to develop immunity against Covid-19 after vaccination. Covid-19 vaccines require two doses administered about four weeks apart. The CDC says it is possible for someone to become infected with Covid-19 and become ill after being vaccinated, if the vaccine has not had enough time to provide protection.
The site is named after former congressman, presidential candidate and doctor Ron Paul, known for his conservative and libertarian views. The website’s post was widely shared on social media by some anti-vaccination groups.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham discusses a Covid-19 outbreak in an Auburn nursing home.
Conservative TV presenter Laura Ingraham also spoke about the outbreak at Auburn’s nursing home on her Fox News show Monday night. “Why did an outbreak of Covid’s deaths in a nursing home coincide with an explosion in vaccine distribution?” she said with a screenshot of Syracuse.com history in the background.
Ingraham then interviewed Dr. Harvey Risch, a Yale epidemiologist, who said that the Covid-19 vaccine is effective in protecting people from falling ill and dying from Covid-19, but does not prevent vaccinated people from spreading the virus to others. people.
The death toll of Covid-19 on The Commons increased to 32 on Monday, according to the state.
Cayuga County was hit by a wave of Covid-19 cases after Thanksgiving. The total number of Covid-19 deaths in the county rose from 13 on December 21 to 58 on Tuesday.
Cayuga County had 3,924 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday. That number has more than doubled in the past three weeks.
James T. Mulder covers health and higher education. Got a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com