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Thousands of Baltimore County employees not revealing vaccination status

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Credit: John Lee
Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski. Credit: John Lee

Nearly 40 percent of Baltimore County’s employees have not reported whether they have been vaccinated for COVID-19. That’s according to Sean Naron, the press secretary for County Executive Johnny Olszewski.

The county had asked employees to let them know by Monday their vaccination status. Naron said those who do not submit proof of vaccination will be required to be tested weekly for COVID beginning later this month.

“The county is continuing outreach to encourage employees to report their vaccination status,” Naron said in an email.

As of Friday, 63% of the county’s employees have reported they are vaccinated, according to Naron. The county has approximately 9,000 employees.

In September, Olszewski announced that county employees would need to share their vaccination status by October 15. At that time, Olszewski said, “Public health is a shared responsibility, and we each have to do our part in order to protect the health and wellbeing of our workforce and the public we serve.”

The county later delayed the start of that requirement by one month. Officials said they needed more time to set up a program where employees who are not vaccinated or are not providing their vaccination status can be tested in county buildings.

At a September 28 county council meeting, Council Chairman Julian Jones questioned whether bringing COVID tests to employees was enabling the unvaccinated.

“I think we’re at a point where the people who are not getting vaccinated are not getting vaccinated for a whole host of reasons,” Jones said at the time. “But the idea is to not just encourage but sort of put some obstacles in their way to make them get the vaccine.”

John Lee is a reporter for WYPR covering Baltimore County. @JohnWesleyLee2
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