News Photo by Julie Riddle Chuck Sherwin, president of MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena, fills a syringe with Johnson and Johnson vaccine at the home of Alden and Naomi Kirschner on Friday.

ALPENA — MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena is in no hurry to implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate and is waiting for a recommendation from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration before taking any action, Hospital President Chuck Sherwin said Friday.

Though President Joe Biden recently issued an executive order requiring vaccines for federal employees, Sherwin is waiting for recommendations from MIOSHA before the hospital takes any further steps.

Sherwin said if the federal government forces the hospital’s hand and threatens to pull funding, vaccine mandates could eventually be implemented, but, he added, that time is not now. Sherwin said he expects legal challenges to Biden’s order.

“Just because the president says or does something, doesn’t mean we’ll react accordingly to it,” Sherwin said. “We’ll wait to receive the MIOSHA recommendation and decide from there what the appropriate action to take is.”

Though the hospital does not currently have a mandate, Sherwin said the hospital believes in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

“The science has shown it works and we believe in the vaccine and recommend the vaccine,” he said.

As of Friday, Sherwin said about 65% of the employees at the hospital are vaccinated and about 85% of doctors have received their vaccines.

Opinions on mandatory vaccines at the hospital are split, but Sherwin said everything is being done to accommodate all employees.

“We have heard from many employees about this issue and half ask us to please don’t make them mandatory, while others question why we aren’t mandating the vaccine,” he said. “We are trying to do everything to keep our employees safe and healthy.”

Sherwin said if a vaccine mandate is implemented, it is possible a shortage of nurses — an ongoing issue nationwide — could become more severe. He said there are already hospitals in Michigan that have had to limit capacity because of low staffing, but that is not the case in Alpena yet.

In Northeast Michigan the number of COVID-19 infections continues to climb, but the number of people getting the vaccine has slowed to a crawl.

As of Friday, 58% of Alpena County residents 16 or older had been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to state data.

Public health experts have said we could consider the coronavirus pandemic over once 70% of the population has been vaccinated.

The state says 62.3% of Presque Isle County residents, 56% of Montmorency County residents, and 58% of Alcona County residents have been fully vaccinated.

In the past week, public health officials have reported 78 newly infected or probably infected Northeast Michiganders, but zero deaths associated with the disease.

Since February, Northeast Michigan health officials have reported confirmed and suspected infections as one number. A person counts as a suspected infection if they’d been exposed to a confirmed infected person but hadn’t been tested, themselves — such as family members of infected people.

Northeast Michigan public health agencies have stopped reporting the number of people recovered from COVID-19, but, based on federal definitions that consider a person living 30 days after infection to have recovered from the disease, The News estimates 678 Northeast Michiganders were actively infected — and potentially contagious — on Friday.

On Monday, 601 residents were actively infected.

Other key Northeast Michigan COVID-19 statistics:

* As of Friday, four COVID-19 patients were admitted at MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena, none of them in intensive care. The hospital was 41% full. State officials watch hospital occupancy rates closely to decide whether to impose new restrictions meant to slow the spread of infection.

* Since the pandemic’s start in mid-March 2020, public health officials have reported 5,367 Northeast Michiganders infected or probably infected, and 143 related deaths.

Local health officials urge people to get vaccinated and to continue to mask-up while in indoor public places or places with large crowds in close proximity to one another. Testing is also recommended if symptoms are shown, and to quarantine away from others if exposed to someone infected or while waiting on test results.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.