Wellthy helps employee caregivers access COVID-19 vaccine

Caregiver benefits provider Wellthy is expanding its supportive offerings for employers by providing resources to help get people vaccinated against COVID-19.

Employers have been turning to the benefits provider to help employees with older loved ones get inoculated against COVID. Wellthy has helped families gain access to COVID vaccinations, providing help with transportation and appointment scheduling.

So far, nearly 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People in high-risk groups have been given priority during the initial roll out, but navigating the system is challenging for everyone, and especially those in caregiving roles, says Lindsay Jurist-Rosner, CEO of Wellthy.

“How to support employees with getting vaccines for older adults is the immediate problem [for employers],” she says. “But then how do their employees gain access to the vaccine? It's really difficult to navigate.”

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Wellthy’s care coordinators have been working with various county health departments to help facilitate waitlist access, provide realistic timelines and answer questions for families hitting roadblocks in remote areas. Care coordinators have also been helping families understand vaccine eligibility requirements, providing guidance on where vaccines are being administered and coordinating vaccine appointments.

“Most older adults don't feel super comfortable with the online booking environment, so it falls on employees trying to figure this out during their work day,” Jurist-Rosner says. “[Wellthy] is taking the legwork by making the calls, refreshing the [appointment] pages and understanding when the new appointments will get dropped into the system, which can happen at different times.”

One Wellthy care coordinator even set an alarm for the middle of the night, when they knew the new appointments would open up, ensuring their client’s loved one was able to get the vaccine, Jurist-Rosner says.

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While 41% of unvaccinated people plan to get the shot as soon as it is available, according to data from Kaiser Health News, only half of employees believe their employer should require a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Eagle Hill Consulting. If the current rate of vaccinations ramps up to one-million shots per day, the U.S. could reach herd immunity by the end of 2021, according to aCNN analysis.

“The end of the pandemic is in our line of sight thanks to our world's talented scientists. Now the issue is ensuring that eligible individuals gain access as quickly and easily as possible,” Jurist-Rosner says. “As information is changing so rapidly, it is critical to ensure that families have the right tools to confidently navigate this final phase of the pandemic.”