DOVER (OCT. 22, 2021) – The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) today announced that Delaware’s vaccine providers can begin administering booster doses for vaccines made by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to certain populations that have been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine received booster authorization last month. DPH is also advising that any of the three authorized vaccines can be administered to qualifying individuals as a booster in a “mix and match” approach to the vaccine originally received.

This decision comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) formally gave its approval Wednesday to expand the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to allow for a booster dose for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The FDA also gave EUA approval to permit medical providers to administer boosters of any vaccine brand to individuals regardless of the brand vaccine they originally received.

CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met Thursday to provide additional guidance on who should receive a booster dose under the EUA, and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky endorsed the advisory committee’s recommendations later that evening.

Based on CDC recommendations for individuals who received a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the following groups are eligible for a booster shot 6 months or more after their initial series:

People 65 years and older
People aged 18 and older who live in long-term care settings
People 18 and older who have underlying medical conditions, which include but are not limited to: cancer, chronic heart, lung and kidney diseases, dementia, diabetes, down syndrome, HIV, overweight and obesity, pregnancy, organ transplants, and stroke.
People 18 and older who work or live in high-risk settings, including health care workers, teachers and daycare staff, grocery workers and those in homeless shelters or prisons, among others.

For individuals who received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, booster shots are also recommended for those who are 18 and older and who were vaccinated two or more months ago.

For convenience, eligible individuals may choose which vaccine they receive as a booster dose. CDC’s recommendations now allow for this type of mix and match dosing for booster shots.

According to CDC, while data show vaccines remain effective in preventing hospitalization and severe disease, a booster shot will help provide continued protection against severe disease in these populations who are especially at risk for severe COVID-19, including those over 65, residents of long-term care facilities, and persons 18 – 64 with underlying health conditions. DPH is encouraging individuals in these most at-risk categories to seek booster vaccines first.

“Today’s announcement is great news in the fight against COVID-19. Not surprisingly, we have seen signs that the vaccine wanes over time and getting a booster is key to increasing protection against severe disease and death,” said DPH Director Dr. Karyl Rattay. “Now is not the time to take our foot off the pedal. Those who are eligible should get their booster, and those who are not yet vaccinated should make this their number one priority.”

COVID-19 vaccine providers in Delaware may begin administering booster doses immediately or as soon as they are able. Members of the public who are eligible for a booster shot are recommended to seek vaccine at existing vaccine sites, including pharmacies, health care providers, Federally Qualified Health Centers (for patients), and standing DPH Vaccine sites:

Blue Hen Corporate Center: 655 S. Bay Road, Dover, DE 19901
Georgetown Plaza: 19 Georgetown Plaza, Georgetown, DE 19947
Canby Park: 1920 Maryland Ave., Wilmington, DE 19805
University Plaza, 256 Chapman Road, Suite 100, Newark, DE 19702

As a reminder, Delawareans who have certain immunocompromising conditions, including those who have received organ or stem cell transplants, are undergoing treatment for HIV or cancer, or who are taking medication that suppresses the immune system, are currently eligible to receive an additional dose of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, if they completed their second dose at least 28 days prior.

DPH encourages providers to use their clinical judgment and to consider additional factors for their patients when determining if the person meets the qualifications for immunocompromised status and is eligible for an additional/third dose of Pfizer or Moderna. These factors may include assessing patients who reside in a long-term care facility or patients of advanced age (especially those over age 85).

For a complete list of locations where vaccines are available, visit de.gov/getmyvaccine.

Eligible SNAP Households Will Receive Additional Food Assistance for Those Children

NEW CASTLE (May 3, 2021) – Delaware families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits will get additional food assistance through the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program for children younger than 6 who live in SNAP households.

The federal P-EBT program was established in March 2020 to provide food dollars to families to make up for meals missed on days when schools were closed or operated with reduced in-person attendance due to COVID-19. Federal legislation signed in December 2020 expanded P-EBT benefits to eligible SNAP households with children younger than 6, effective retroactively from Oct. 1, 2020.

The first round of benefits covering the 2020-2021 school year will be issued May 6. A child younger than 6 is eligible for P-EBT benefits if two conditions are met:

The child is a member of a household that received SNAP food benefits at any time since Oct. 1, 2020.
The child lives in an area where one or more schools are closed or are operating with reduced attendance or hours because of COVID-19.

For each child younger than 6, the SNAP household will receive $6.82 per day multiplied by the average number of remote school days per month reported for the public schools located in the county where the household lives. The P-EBT benefit amount equals the federal reimbursement rate for breakfast, lunch, and a snack per child per school day. The average number of remote school days per month can change, so P-EBT benefit amounts may change each month.

Benefits will be issued according to the following schedule:

P-EBT Schedule for Children Younger Than Age 6

SNAP households will receive P-EBT benefits on their existing SNAP EBT cards and can use their P-EBT benefits just like SNAP food benefits to buy eligible food items at stores and farmer’s markets that accept SNAP EBT. Households will receive monthly P-EBT benefits for all children in their home who are younger than 6. Households will only receive P-EBT benefits for children younger than 6 for the months that the household received SNAP food benefits during the P-EBT period.

“The P-EBT program has provided a lifeline to financially vulnerable families who struggle to put food on the table,” said Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Molly Magarik. “This additional assistance covering SNAP households with children younger than 6 is another step toward achieving an equitable recovery from the pandemic for all Delawareans.”

SNAP households that include school-age children who are eligible for P-EBT will continue to receive P-EBT benefits for those children on a separate date. Check Delaware’s P-EBT website for details.

The state estimates that it will issue $2.1 million in P-EBT benefits per month to approximately 17,770 children younger than 6 in SNAP households.

Eligible SNAP households will receive written notification in the mail regarding P-EBT benefits. Households do not need to take any action to receive P-EBT benefits.

Please contact the Division of Social Services at 1-866-843-7212 if you have questions about Delaware’s P-EBT Program. More information about the program can be found at:

https://dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dss/pebt.html

Eligible Families Will Be Reimbursed for Cost of Meals That Would Have Been Available in Schools

NEW CASTLE (March 29, 2021) – Delaware households with children affected by school closures during the COVID-19 public health emergency will receive additional temporary food-assistance benefits under the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program. Eligible households will receive P-EBT benefits for each school day that their child did not receive meals at school during the current school year.

The state’s Division of Social Services, collaborating with the state’s Department of Education, will issue P-EBT benefits beginning today, March 29. Benefits will be available on recipients’ EBT cards the day after they are issued. The dates that benefits will be issued to individual households depend on when the Division of Social Services receives eligibility and attendance data from each school. Some households may experience a delay in receiving benefits; benefits may become available one to two weeks from the first issuance date. The date range that households may receive monthly benefits is listed in the schedule below.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 extended P-EBT through the 2020-2021 school year. Delaware began issuing P-EBT benefits for the current school year to eligible households last September, to cover August and September 2020. The new benefits will cover October 2020 through June 2021 and will be issued using the following schedule:

Please note: These issuance date ranges may change. Check Delaware’s P-EBT website for up-to-date information.

P-EBT benefits may be used to purchase food at stores that accept SNAP EBT cards. SNAP households will have P-EBT benefits loaded to their existing SNAP EBT cards. Households that do not receive SNAP will have P-EBT benefits loaded to the P-EBT card that was sent to them in the spring or fall of 2020. Newly eligible non-SNAP households will receive a P-EBT card in the mail along with details on how to use the card.

A child is eligible for P-EBT benefits for the 2020-2021 school year if two conditions are met:

1. The child is certified to receive free or reduced-price meals or attends a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) school where all students receive free meals through the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program, and
2. The child does not receive free or reduced-price meals at school because the school is closed or has been operating with reduced attendance or hours for at least 5 consecutive days in the current school year.

Households will receive $6.82 for each school day that their child did not receive meals at school because the school was closed or the child was participating in remote learning. The P-EBT benefit amount equals the federal reimbursement rate for breakfast, lunch, and a snack of $6.82 per child per eligible school day. Households will receive P-EBT benefits for all eligible children in their home in monthly issuances. Households will not receive P-EBT for the days that their children attended school in-person and received meals at school.

The state estimates that it will issue $91.3 million in P-EBT benefits to approximately 93,000 children for school closures and reductions in attendance and hours from October 2020 through June 2021.

“The pandemic emergency has created significant health and educational challenges for vulnerable families in Delaware, with schools closed or operating with reduced hours,” said Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Molly Magarik. “This temporary assistance will help affected families continue to provide a nutritious diet, which is essential to their children’s health.”

Eligible households will receive written notification in the mail regarding P-EBT benefits for the 2020-2021 school year. Households do not need to take any action to receive P-EBT benefits. P-EBT eligibility is based on information received from Delaware schools.

Please contact the Division of Social Services at 1-866-843-7212 if you have questions about Delaware’s P-EBT Program.

DOVER (Oct. 30, 2020) – The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) is providing an update on the most recent statistics related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Delaware, as of 6 p.m. Thursday, October 29, 2020.

A total of 24,751 positive cases of COVID-19 among Delaware residents have been reported to DPH since March 11, 2020, including 13,074 individuals who are considered recovered. The number of new daily cases each day this week has remained elevated with the seven-day average of 150, as of Thursday, Oct. 29.

The seven-day average for the percentage of persons who tested positive for COVID-19 increased from 6.9% as of Oct. 22, to 7.7% as of Thursday, Oct. 29. DPH recently began publishing both positivity rates – persons tested and total tests conducted – on its COVID-19 data portal. As of Tuesday, Oct. 27, the seven-day average for the percentage of total tests that were positive was 3.3%, up from 3.1% as of Oct. 20. There is a two-day lag for presenting data related to percent of tests that are positive to account for the time delay between the date of the test and the date that DPH receives the test result.

In addition, 101 individuals are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Delaware, a decrease of five from the total as of last Friday’s update. Twenty-two of the hospitalized persons are critically ill, down three from last week.

A total of 704 Delawareans have passed away due to complications from COVID-19. The state reported 26 additional deaths since last week’s update, including nine as a result of a review of Vital Statistics records. The total number of individuals who have died from COVID-19 ranges in age from 21 to 104 years old. Of those who have died, 362 were female and 342 were male. A total of 351 individuals were from New Castle County, 120 were from Kent County, and 233 were from Sussex County.

To protect personal health information, DPH will not confirm specific information about any individual case, even if other persons or entities disclose it independently.

Additional Updates

Update on COVID-19 Outbreaks in Long-term Care Facilities: The Division of Public Health continues to investigate COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities throughout the state. Facilities where significant ongoing outbreaks are occurring, as of Oct. 30, 2020:

• Kentmere Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Wilmington; 54 residents and 42 staff members
• Cadia Healthcare Silverside in Wilmington; 59 residents and 34 staff members
• Country Rest Home in Greenwood; 31 residents and 20 staff members
• Regency Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Wilmington; 63 residents and 23 staff
• Newly added: Lofland Park in Seaford, 19 residents and 10 staff

*Staff members may include health care and non-health care personnel, such as facility vendors or other individuals working in the long-term care facility who may not be full-time facility employees.

Delaware COVID-19 Data:
The latest Delaware COVID-19 case statistics* cumulatively since March 11, provided as of 6 p.m. Thursday, October 29, include:

• 24,751 total positive cases
• New Castle County cases: 13,079
• Kent County cases: 3,545
• Sussex County cases: 8,036
• Unknown County: 91
• Females: 13,349; Males: 11,363; Unknown Sex: 39
• Age range: 0 to 104
• Currently hospitalized: 101; Critically ill: 22 (This data represents individuals currently hospitalized in a Delaware hospital regardless of residence, and is not cumulative.)
• Delawareans recovered: 13,074
• 323,776 negative cases**
*Data are provisional and subject to change.
**Data on negative cases are preliminary, based on negative results reported to DPH by state and commercial laboratories performing analysis.

Generally, Delaware is now considering patients recovered after at least 24 hours have passed since the resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and/or improvement in symptoms, and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. Individuals who tested positive who have not had any symptoms are considered recovered after at least 10 days have passed since the date of their first positive COVID-19 test with no subsequent illness.

Aggregate K-12 School-Related COVID-19 Statistics:
The Division of Public Health is providing statewide aggregate data on the total number of COVID-19 positive cases among students and staff who were in-person at a school or child care facility while potentially infectious, reported to DPH since Sept. 1, 2020. To determine the start of the infectious period, or when others may have been exposed to someone infectious, DPH looks 48 hours prior to the onset of symptoms or 48 hours prior to testing for those individuals who had no symptoms. These data only indicate potential exposure to COVID-19 in these settings, not whether exposure actually occurred.

Cumulative number of COVID-19 positive students and staff, statewide, who were in-person at a school or child care facility while potentially infectious, reported to DPH between Sept. 1, 2020, and Oct. 30, 2020:

• Child care – 28 students and 36 staff
• Private K-12 – 60 students and 33 staff
• Public K-12 – 40 students and 88 staff

Long-term Care Statistics:
Information related to positive cases and deaths among residents at long-term care facilities will be updated weekly each Friday, using information reported as of 6 p.m. Thursday. There have been a total of 1,505 positive COVID-19 cases cumulatively involving long-term care residents, and 409 residents of Delaware long-term care facilities have died from complications related to COVID-19.

The locations and number of deaths involving residents of long-term care facilities are:

• Atlantic Shores Rehabilitation and Health Center, Millsboro (17)
• Brackenville Center, Genesis Healthcare, Hockessin (18)
• Brandywine Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Wilmington (34)
• Brandywine Living at Seaside Pointe, Rehoboth Beach (2)
• Cadia Healthcare Broadmeadow, Middletown (11)
• Cadia Healthcare Capitol, Dover (14)
• Cadia Healthcare Renaissance, Millsboro (9)
• Cadia Healthcare North Wilmington/Silverside, Wilmington (16)
• Country Rest Home, Greenwood (9)
• Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill, Smyrna (11)
• Governor Bacon Health Center, Delaware City (1)
• HarborChase of Wilmington, Wilmington (4)
• Harbor Healthcare and Rehabilitation, Lewes (21)
• Harrison House Senior Living, Georgetown (41)
• Hillside Center, Wilmington (3)
• Kentmere Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, Wilmington (7)
• Kutz Senior Living, Wilmington (2)
• Little Sisters of the Poor, Newark (11)
• Lofland Park Center, Genesis Healthcare, Seaford (3)
• ManorCare Health Services, Wilmington (13)
• ManorCare Health Services, Pike Creek (21)
• Methodist Country House, Wilmington (4)
• Millcroft, Newark (2)
• Milford Center, Genesis Healthcare, Milford (37)
• New Castle Health and Rehabilitation Center, New Castle (12)
• Newark Manor Nursing Home, Newark (11)
• Parkview Nursing and Rehabilitation, Wilmington (26)
• Pinnacle Rehabilitation and Health Center, Smyrna (24)
• Regal Heights Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, Hockessin (6)
• Summit Assisted Living, Hockessin (3)
• Sunrise Assisted Living, Wilmington (2)
• The Moorings at Lewes, Lewes (2)
• Westminster Village, Dover (7)
• Five other New Castle County long-term care facilities (1 death at each facility)

Additional demographic data on COVID-19 cases and deaths, including race/ethnicity, more age-specific data and rates information by ZIP code, and information on Delaware’s contact tracing efforts can be found on the Division of Public Health’s My Healthy Community data portal at de.gov/healthycommunity.

If you are sick with any of the following symptoms, stay home: fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue, chills, shaking with chills, loss of smell or taste, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, or headache or congestion or runny nose without a known cause such as allergies. Other symptoms such as abdominal pain or lack of appetite have been identified as potential symptoms related to COVID-19 and may prompt further screening, action or investigation by a primary care provider. If you are sick and need essential supplies, ask someone else to go to the grocery store or the pharmacy to get what you need.

If you believe you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, or have symptoms of illness, make sure to distance yourself from others, particularly vulnerable populations. Older adults and people of any age with serious underlying medical conditions – including serious heart conditions, chronic lung conditions, including moderate to severe asthma, severe obesity and those who are immunocompromised, including through cancer treatment – may have a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

Information about testing events, including community testing sites, permanent fixed testing sites, and free-standing sites operated by the health care systems and hospitals, will be listed on the testing section of the Delaware coronavirus website at: coronavirus.delaware.gov/testing/.

Individuals who have complaints about individuals violating public gathering restrictions should contact state or local law enforcement. Concerns that a business may be violating operating restrictions should be directed to: HSPContact@delaware.gov. Questions related to business re-openings or operations as businesses re-open should go to COVID19FAQ@delaware.gov.

Individuals with questions about COVID-19 should call Delaware 2-1-1, individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing can text their ZIP code to 898-211, or email delaware211@uwde.org. Hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Medically related questions regarding testing, symptoms, and health-related guidance can be submitted by email at DPHCall@delaware.gov. Questions regarding unemployment claims should be emailed to: UIClaims@delaware.gov.

In addition, the Division of Public Health asks any Delaware health care, long-term care, residential, or other high-risk facility with questions or concerns to email: DPH_PAC@delaware.gov or call the DPH Call Center at 1-866-408-1899 and press ext. 2.

DPH will continue to update the public as more information becomes available. For the latest on Delaware’s response, go to de.gov/coronavirus.

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Learn more about the Pandemic Resurgence Advisory Committee and their recommendations: de.gov/prac