F888: Ensure staff are vaccinated for COVID-19
F888 is one of the federal requirements every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home must meet. CMS describes it as: Ensure staff are vaccinated for COVID-19
It sits in CMS's infection control category.
CMS Health Deficiencies file, data as of September 1, 2026. The files hold each home's last three standard inspections and three years of complaint visits.
How seriously inspectors rate it
Every citation gets a letter for how much harm inspectors found and how many residents it touched (how to read the letters). 0.0% of F888 citations came from a complaint visit rather than a routine inspection.
By letter: B 2, C 49, D 92, E 36, F 27, G 1, L 2.
What inspectors wrote
Three recent F888 citations from different states, quoted from the inspectors' statements of deficiencies (CMS form 2567). Names are removed by CMS.
Inspectors wrote, May 17, 2023, scope and severity DBased on record review and staff interview, it was determined that the facility failed to develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure that 100% of staff were fully vaccinated, had an approved exemption, or had a temporary delay to receive the vaccination and/or was not eligible for the required second dose of COVID 19. This was evidenced by a 97.6% vaccination rate with 3 (#34, #35, and #22) of 85 direct hire staff and 1 (#36) of 4 contracted staff.
Frederick Crossing of Journey, Frederick, MD
Inspectors wrote, May 17, 2023, scope and severity DBased on record review and interview, the facility failed to implement a process to ensure 100% of the facility's staff were fully vaccinated as evidenced by failing to provide documentation of COVID-19 vaccination status for 1 (S20CNA-Certified Nursing Assistant) out of 1 staff listed as temporary delay/new hire. This deficient practice had the potential to affect the 30 residents who resided on Hall B.
Maison De Lafayette, Lafayette, LA
Inspectors wrote, May 16, 2023, scope and severity FBased on policy review, record review and interview, the facility failed to ensure its staff maintained a system to track and accurately document staff COVID-19 vaccination status.
Wachusett Manor, Gardner, MA
Most recent F888 citations at the harm or jeopardy level
Newest first, all 3 in the current files. Each home's page shows the citation in full context, with its correction status.
| Inspection | Home | Town | Letter | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 12, 2022 | Avant Rehabilitation and Care Center | Trenton, NJ | L | Standard |
| May 23, 2022 | Lakeside Health & Rehabilitation | Richmond, VA | G | Standard |
| April 19, 2022 | Winding Trails Post Acute | Boulder, CO | L | Standard |
Most recent F888 citations
F888 citations by state
Counts depend on how many homes a state has and how often its inspectors visit, so a larger number is not by itself a worse record.
By inspection year: 2021 1, 2022 146, 2023 62.
Common questions
- What is F888 in a nursing home inspection?
- F888 is the federal requirement to "ensure staff are vaccinated for covid-19". CMS files it under infection control. A home cited under F888 did not meet that requirement at the inspection.
- How often is F888 cited?
- The CMS files as of September 1, 2026 list 209 F888 citations at 209 nursing homes, 0 of them in the 12 months to that date. 1.4% were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
- Is a F888 citation serious?
- It depends on the letter. Most F888 citations (74.2%) were rated as potential for more than minimal harm, D to F. 2 were immediate jeopardy, the most serious level.
The interpretive guidance inspectors use for each F-tag is CMS's State Operations Manual, Appendix PP. NursingHomeClear reports the citations as CMS records them and is not affiliated with CMS. All F-tags · Methodology