Local hospital employees yet to receive their COVID-19 boosters got a reprieve Friday after New York’s health commissioner said the state will not enforce its mandate that had required the shot.

It’s not clear just how many health care workers in Chautauqua County hadn’t met Monday’s deadline requiring the supplemental vaccination. However, information provided by hospitals to the state show many were lagging with days to go before employees faced possible termination.

As of Tuesday, the most recent data made available by New York, 54% of hospital workers at UPMC Chautauqua had reported receiving a booster shot. The rates were better at Brooks-TLC Hospital in Dunkirk with 74% and Westfield Memorial Hospital with 69%.

Estimates, as noted by the Albany Times Union, didn’t include health care workers who may have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the past six months and not yet required to get the booster shot as well as hospital employees who may have received a shot but not reported it.

Health care workers employed at hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities were required last year to be fully vaccinated for the virus. State records show, as of this week, 99% of hospital workers in Dunkirk and Westfield had completed their vaccination series while 92% were fully vaccinated at the Jamestown hospital.

The state Health Department in January said workers were required to receive a booster shot by Feb. 21 or risk being terminated. That requirement was dropped Friday in light of concerns about staffing shortages.

“While we are making progress with 75% of staff received or are willing to receive their booster, the reality is that not enough health care workers will be boosted by next week’s requirement in order to avoid substantial staffing issues in our already overstressed healthcare system,” state health commissioner Mary Bassett said in a statement.

Bassett said state health officials will take another look at the booster mandate in three months to decide whether New York should take more steps to increase booster rates.

Just about every nursing home and assisted living facility in the county was at or just below 100% staff vaccination compliance. Outliers include the Frewsburg Rest Home, in which 53.7% of staff report being fully vaccinated and Tanglewood Manor, where 69.9% of staff report being up to date on their vaccinations.

Information on booster shots wasn’t available for local nursing facility workers.

According to the Times Union, as of Feb. 8 there were 239,927 health care workers at private facilities — out of 514,144 statewide– who were reported as not having a a booster shot. The estimate does not include employees at three State University of New York hospitals, where thousands more nurses and other employees have not reported receiving a booster shot, according to labor union officials.

BED AVAILABILITY IMPROVES

More staffed hospital beds were available locally as fewer cases of COVID-19 have been documented in recent weeks.

In just over a week, total bed availability has gone from about 4.5% in the county to 27%. The information is part of a survey hospitals are required to send the state every day and includes available hospital beds and available beds in each hospital’s intensive care unit.

Based on the latest information, UPMC Chautauqua had 22 of its 84 hospital beds available and two of its nine ICU beds open.

For a seven-day average, 22% of the Jamestown hospital’s beds have been available while 6% of ICU beds have been open.

In a recent statement, Brian Durniok, UPMC Chautauqua president, said he expected relief in occupancy levels as fewer cases of COVID-19 had been reported.

“However, while we remain busy, we strongly encourage members of the community who have health needs to seek care in the appropriate setting whether it be with their primary care physician, Urgent Care or the emergency room,” he said. “We are here to provide excellent care to our communities.”

Average daily cases of the virus have gone from about 250 in the middle of January to just under 50 this past week. The county Health Department did note, though, that cases are going unreported locally with rapid tests more widely available.

At Brooks, out of 38 staffed hospital beds, seven were available. For ICU beds, two out of seven were open based on the latest information provided to the state.

And at Westfield, five of six beds were available.

Information can be found at coronavirus.health.ny.gov/hospital-bed-capacity

The Associated Press contributed to this story.