By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Pennsylvania health officials say it is not an order but they are urging nursing home operators to get at least 80 per cent of their employees vaccinated by Oct. 1.
The request comes as more than 8,400 Pennsylvania nursing home residents have died of Covid-19 since the beginning of the ongoing pandemic.
Deputy Health Secretary Keara Klinepeter said that currently only 12.5 per cent of the state's nursing homes have 80 per cent of their staffers innoculated against Covid-19.
Calling it "an expectation," Klinepeter hinted that further actions may be taken against those facilities not meeting the Oct. 1 deadline.
She said the state would require those homes not meeting the goal to do more frequent testing.
State and federal officials have stated repeatedly that unvaccinated employees are the primary source of infections among nursing home residents.
She said the 12.5 per cent was "not enough from a public health perspective to prevent future outbreaks of the virus."
Agency officials reported earlier this week that at least 8,477 residents of state nursing homes have died from Covid-19 and the actual number may be substantially higher.
The figure is based on the deaths self reported by the facilities and many facilities have not been consistently updating data.
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