BALTIMORE — People who work in Maryland’s hospitals and nursing homes will be required to get the coronavirus vaccine or submit to regular testing, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Wednesday.
Workers at hospitals and nursing homes must get their first dose of the vaccine by Sept. 1, Hogan said.
The Republican governor’s announcement comes as the pandemic, fueled by the delta variant of the virus, is on an upswing in the state and across the nation.
New infections, hospitalizations and deaths have climbed steadily this summer. As of Wednesday morning, 630 people were being treated for the coronavirus in Maryland hospitals.
The state’s testing positivity rate is 4.92% and nearly every part of the state is experiencing “substantial” or “high” spread of the virus, as measured by the federal government.
Several of the state’s hospital systems — including the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins, Greater Baltimore Medical Center and MedStar — already are requiring vaccines for its staff.
Overall, 79% of nursing home staff have been vaccinated, Hogan said, but low vaccination rates among some nursing home workers have been a persistent concern for government leaders and public health experts. Despite the coronavirus ripping through nursing homes and killing residents in the early stages of the pandemic, there’s been a reluctance of some workers to get vaccinated.
The state started posting vaccination data for each Maryland nursing home earlier this year, then ramped up pressure by publicizing the least-vaccinated facilities in recent weeks.
The state has 227 licensed nursing homes. Nursing homes that don’t comply with the vaccination-or-test mandate or don’t report their data may face fines and penalties, Hogan said.
Joe DeMattos, president of the Health Facilities Association of Maryland, said he and the governor share a frustration about low vaccination rates among some nursing home and hospital workers. DeMattos said he’s proud of nursing home workers and facilities, “but we need to take that extra step.”
The state also will work with nursing homes to test residents to see how strong their antibodies are. A pilot program to test 500 nursing home residents should be complete by Sept. 1, Hogan said.
Patients and families expect hospitals have done “everything in our power” to ensure safety, and that includes vaccinations, said Dr. Mohan Suntha University of Maryland Medical System.
“We have this responsibility that comes with the social compact that is health care,” he said.
The governor thanked health care workers for their efforts throughout the pandemic.
“In some ways these surges feel like the worst kind of deja vu ... please know that you have earned our eternal gratitude,” he said.
Some have called on the governor to take more steps to slow the spread of the virus, such as implementing an indoor mask order, mandating masks in schools, requiring vaccinations in more places or returning to a statewide state of emergency.
Hogan previously state government is requiring its workers in state prisons, hospitals, juvenile facilities and veterans’ homes to either get vaccinated or wear masks and submit to regular tests.
But his top health official, Health Secretary Dennis Schrader, said earlier in the week that the state is largely hoping that private employers will require vaccinations of its workers.
Hogan said he’s calling on the federal government to do more to help battle the pandemic, specifically to grant full approval to vaccines and to expedited approval of the vaccines for children age 5 to 11.
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(Baltimore Sun reporter Christine Condon contributed to this report.)
