Local hospital: Data on 'efficacy of the vaccines in preventing transmission' needed before mandatory policy for employees

Jul. 23—CUMBERLAND — As cases of the COVID-19 delta variant surge across much of the country and state, Allegany and Garrett counties trail most of Maryland for vaccination rates, and local hospitals have no plans to make inoculation against the disease mandatory for health care workers.

Allegany County's daily positive COVID-19 case rate jumped from .66% Tuesday to 1.13% Thursday, the Maryland Department of Health reported Friday.

For that time period, Garrett County's case rate increased from 1.07% to 1.23%, and both counties saw a rise in seven-day moving average COVID-19 case rates per 100,000 people.

Despite the growing number of cases, warning from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky that the delta variant is "one of the most infectious respiratory viruses we know of," and pressure from the American Hospital Association for all health care personnel to be vaccinated against COVID-19, local facilities say they're not ready to make employees get a shot.

"UPMC encourages all staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and we offer many opportunities for vaccination to ease this process," hospital system officials said via email.

"UPMC awaits more data on the efficacy of the vaccines in preventing transmission of COVID-19, before requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for employees," officials said.

"Vaccination is one layer of protection; at UPMC, our multiple infection prevention efforts — including mandatory employee, patient and visitor masking — are highly effective at preventing transmission of COVID-19 within our facilities. We will continue to collect data and weigh evidence on the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines and may require our employees to receive them in the future."

Garrett Regional Medical Center President & CEO Mark Boucot provided a similar statement.

"Following the lead of the WVU Health System, GRMC has not made the vaccination mandatory for employees at this time," he said via email. "The hospital highly encourages its employees and community members to get vaccinated as it is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID. Voluntarily, the medical staff of the hospital has achieved a very high vaccination rate. Notwithstanding, the hospital is requiring all staff and visitors to follow the masking policies and infection prevention recommendations from the (CDC)."

Maryland Department of Health Deputy Director of Media Relations Charlie Gischlar said there is no state employee vaccine mandate.

"Each local authority, organization, or business may make decisions based on federal (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) guidance and in conformance with federal and state laws and regulations," he said.

In a consensus statement last month, the Maryland Hospital Association said the state's 60 hospitals and health systems want patients, visitors and staff members to be safe.

"As part of their commitment to that goal, participating hospitals have, through the auspices of (MHA), made a decision to require all employees and clinical team members to be vaccinated against COVID-19."

UPMC Western Maryland and GRMC were listed as member hospitals on the MHA website Friday.

Rising COVID-19 cases

The Maryland Department of Health on Friday reported 288 new COVID-19 cases, three more deaths and 11 additional hospitalizations across the state in the past 24 hours.

"The majority of all new cases, deaths and hospitalizations are among those who are unvaccinated," Gischlar said. "Maryland continues to strongly recommend and encourage all eligible Marylanders to get a life-saving COVID-19 shot."

According to the CDC Friday, 76.5% of Marylanders age 18 and older had gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Rates in Allegany and Garrett counties were each about half of the state percentage.

As of July 20, 153 cases of the delta variant have been reported in the state, Gischlar said.

"The latest data indicates that about half of all new cases involve the highly contagious delta variant, which is becoming the predominant COVID variant in Maryland, surpassing alpha (B.1.1.7) variant," he said.

Neither the state health department nor CDC track the COVID-19 delta variant by local jurisdiction.

"We do not have a breakdown by county," Gischlar said.

"We have state/region data, not county data," CDC Public Affairs Specialist Jade Fulce said via email.

Walk-in vaccinations

The Allegany County Health Department will offer walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations on the ground floor of the Willowbrook Office Complex, 12501 Willowbrook Road in Cumberland, from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday.

The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines will be offered for people age 18 and older.

Following that clinic from 1 to 4 p.m., the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be available for people age 12 and older.

"Anyone under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian in order to be vaccinated," the health department said via press release.

"ACHD reports that 40.5% of Allegany County residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to 58.3% of all Marylanders."

Teresa McMinn is the Digital Editor for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371, tmcminn@times-news.com or on Twitter @teresamcminn1