Erie County avoids vaccine mandate as COVID data stabilizes
Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Citing encouraging data across Erie County, County Executive Mark Poloncarz says there will be no escalation of COVID protocols at this time.
After reviewing three weeks of data since the implementation of a mask mandate in the county, Poloncarz said, "We are staying in phase one."
Poloncarz previously unveiled a four step approach to handling a spike in COVID in the county with phase one being a mask mandate, phase two a vaccine mandate, phase three would be capacity restrictions and phase four would result in shutdowns.
While cautioning COVID is still a significant problem in the county, Poloncarz noted a lowering of the overall positivity rate in the county and a stabilization of hospitalizations.
"We believe the mask mandate made a difference in Erie County," noted Poloncarz as he applauded the New York State mask mandate implemented by Governor Kathy Hochul. "Masks work," he said.
While hospitalizations have stabilized, Poloncarz says they are still at a critical juncture. "The hospitals are still at or near capacity," he said. Approximately 90-percent of hospital beds are presently occupied, a slight decrease over previous data.
Vaccinations continue to be a positive note across Erie County with high vaccination rates, particularly for older adults and a strong majority of all age groups having at least one dose of vaccine. "We continue to have high vaccination numbers," Poloncarz said.
Since the implementation of a statewide mask mandate, enforcement has been questioned frequently. Governor Kathy Hochul has said enforcement has been left in the hands of the counties.
"We have had our sanitarians go out since we issued the mask mandate," Poloncarz said in responding to a question from WBEN. "They will continue to go out." Poloncarz said they issue warnings before issuing fines and find that most follow the rules after that warning. Poloncarz declined to answer our question about how many mask violation fines have been issued to date.
