Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
Update COVID-19 vaccination
Many VA facilities and clinics offer COVID-19 vaccines to:- All Veterans
- Spouses and surviving spouses of Veterans
- Caregivers of Veterans. For COVID-19 vaccine eligibility, we define a caregiver as a family member or friend who provides care to a Veteran. Caregivers may help a Veteran with personal needs like feeding, bathing, or dressing. They may also help a Veteran with tasks like shopping or transportation.
- Recipients of Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) benefits
Visit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Coronavirus page for the latest information.
What is VA doing?
VA has implemented an aggressive public health response to protect and care for Veterans, their families, health care providers, and staff. Safe care is our mission.
- See real-time, map-based data on COVID-19 case counts.
Much of our work during the pandemic is described within our COVID-19 response plan. Plan installment 1 covers the period of January 2020 through June 2020. Plan installment 2 covers the period July 2020 through January 2021.
Additional information can be found on the COVID-19 Response Reports page.
Part of the department’s “Fourth Mission” is to support non-VA health care systems in the event those systems encounter capacity issues. VA is currently supporting COVID-19 response efforts within non-VA health care systems.
- VA New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange campus, to assist COVID-19 response(PDF)
- VA to assist New York City with COVID-19 response
- VA announces ‘Fourth Mission,’ actions to help America respond to COVID-19
- VA COVID-19 Support of States
State Home COVID-19 Data
In accordance with Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, Public Law 116-315, State Homes will report COVID-19 related information to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) weekly. SHs are owned and operated by individual States, and all data are self-reported by the SHs. VA is required to post publicly the total numbers of SH COVID-19 cases and deaths among residents and staff. SHs (Skilled Nursing Facilities and Domiciliaries) provide the data to the CDC/NHSN which provides it to VA. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has required CMS-accredited programs to provide COVID-19 related information to CDC/NHSN since May 2020. VA worked with SHs that were not CMS-certified to assist them to initiate and maintain reporting to the CDC/NHSN.
For consistency with CMS reporting, the totals reported on this page prior to March 30, 2023, did not include cases or deaths prior to May 25, 2020. The totals also did not include additional cases that were reported by State Homes as modifications to prior counts of cases. Starting March 30, 2023, the total counts of cases and deaths displayed below on this page include the additional cases reported by SHs to CDC/NHSN for prior dates. Data from CDC/NHSN has been extracted and reviewed from January 2020 onward. With the addition of these past cases, the total counts shown below on this page on March 30, 2023, increase from the previous week’s report by numbers that are primarily due to the reporting of past cases rather than due to a large increase in one week. For future postings after March 30, 2023, the numbers will increase each week primarily due to new cases in the week, although there could also be some additional or removed past cases that SHs report through modifications to their past reporting. This cumulative case count is updated weekly. This data set changes as SHs report new data or enter corrections in CDC/NHSN to previously reported data. Future postings after March 30, 2023, will reflect newly reported cases as of the week of the public posting as well as case count modifications/updates made to previously reported data by SHs since January 2020. All counts of cases and deaths reported here are based on self-reporting by the SHs to CDC/NHSN and are subject to the limitations of self-reported data. Cumulative case and death counts reported for time periods prior to required reporting to CDC/NHSN are incomplete.
In the week ending March 19, 2023, State Homes reported that there had been 141 new COVID-19 cases among residents. The SHs reported the Veteran status for 139 (99%) of these cases. Of the reports that included Veteran status: 126 were Veteran cases and 13 were other resident cases, which may include spouses of Veterans or Gold Star parents. The State Homes reported 3 COVID-19 Veteran deaths that occurred during the week ending March 19, 2023. and 0 other resident death that week. In the week ending March19, 2023 there were 169 new staff cases and 0 staff deaths.
This posting was updated March 30, 2023 and further updates will be posted weekly.
VA is providing a downloadable spreadsheet with reports for individual SHs. This spreadsheet will be updated each week. VA is also displaying a graph showing time trends for cases and deaths among residents and staff.
As expected, there is variability in data in NHSN over time as SHs have newly enrolled and reported data, and as SHs amended past data previously reported.
SH COVID information file - MS Excel format
State Home COVID Cases
State Home COVID Deaths
Additional COVID-19 nursing home information can be found on the CMS website at: https://data.cms.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-Nursing-Home-Data/bkwz-xpvg/ for those SHs that are CMS certified.
What should Veterans do?
Veterans with symptoms such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath should immediately contact their local VA facility. VA urges Veterans to contact VA before visiting – you can find contact information for your closest VA facility. Alternatively, Veterans can sign into My HealtheVet to send secure messages to their VA providers or use telehealth options to explain their condition and receive a prompt diagnosis.
Read responses to Veterans' frequently asked questions about accessing their VA benefits.
Upon arriving at VA, all patients will be screened for flu-like symptoms before they enter in order to protect other patients and staff. A VA health care professional will assist you with next steps once this screening process is complete.
At this time, VA is urging all visitors who do not feel well to please postpone their visits to VA facilities.
How can you protect yourself
Get a Covid-19 vaccine.
- Learn to use VA Video Connect through the VA mobile app store or by contacting your VA care team, before any urgent problems arise.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water.
- Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 70% alcohol.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Stay home when you are sick or becoming sick.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue (not your hands) and throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
- Get vaccinated against flu to prevent illness.
For more information
In accordance with the Office of Management and Budget’s Memorandum M-20-21, all financial information that agencies are required to report concerning their disposition of CARES Act and other supplemental COVID-19 appropriated funds is publicly available on USAspending.gov*, specific information regarding COVID-19 spending can be found on the COVID-19 Spending profile page http://usaspending.gov/covid-19*.
* Links with an asterisk (*) next to them will take you outside the VA website. VA is not responsible for the content of the linked site.
