Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Wednesday that staff at nursing homes and hospitals must show proof of a first dose or a single dose COVID-19 vaccination by Sept. 1. Employees at these facilities who don’t get vaccinated will be required to get tested for COVID-19 weekly, according to the state health department’s new order.

The state’s largest hospitals have already implemented similar requirements for their staff, including the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins hospital systems, MedStar, and GBMC HealthCare.

“But not every hospital has taken action,” Hogan said today. “And some continue to have far too many unvaccinated health care workers, needlessly exposing their vulnerable patients to COVID-19 and the Delta variant.”

During the press briefing, Hogan said the state is on pace to vaccinate 80% of Marylanders by Labor Day. As of Wednesday, 79.5% of residents 18 and older had received at least one dose, per state data. The state has also vaccinated 94% of all seniors.

Hogan said that while hospitalizations and case rates are well below their peak, the Delta variant has posed a continued threat among unvaccinated residents, accounting for all new cases that have shown up in the state.

In Maryland, as with the rest of the region, the case rate has steadily risen since July, with the seven-day average increasing by 19% in the past week alone, according to The Washington Post’s tracker. The state’s testing positivity rate is 4.92% and much of the state is seeing “substantial” or “high” spread of the virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s map. Hospitalizations have also increased regionally (22% increase in Maryland compared to 28% in D.C. and 33% in Virginia). Maryland has reported five deaths per day on a weekly average, while that number has hit 12 regionally, per the Post’s data.

Maryland leads the region in vaccinations, with more than 60% of its population fully vaccinated.

Maryland has kept track of the vaccination rates at all 227 nursing home facilities statewide — by county and facility — using an online dashboard. Some nursing homes report vaccination rates below 50% among staff, which Hogan called “unacceptable,” adding that unvaccinated staff are “endangering the lives of nursing home residents.”

D.C. instituted its own vaccine mandate for health care workers just two days ago. And while some hospital centers in Virginia have introduced vaccine requirements among staff, officials haven’t announced a commonwealth-wide mandate for health care professionals.

The health department also announced this week that Maryland residents will be able to download a certificate with proof of their vaccination status to show to employers. Health Secretary Denise Schrader said the state updated its vaccination records website to allow the public to download the data in a secure manner.

“Our approach is to provide access for anybody that wants to access their data, and that respects their privacy,” Schrader told a group of state senators on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re encouraging employers to use this capacity with their employees.”

In response to reporters’ questions Wednesday, Hogan said the state has not considered an indoor mask mandate and that he’s confident the state will get the rest of the population vaccinated to prevent stricter mask guidance.

Hogan finished by urging federal leaders to make booster shots immediately available for seniors and immunocompromised residents and to expedite vaccination approval for 5-to-11-year-olds, with school opening dates quickly approaching. Health officials announced that booster shots won’t be widely available until late September, and FDA approval for children under 12 years old is months away, per Hogan.

“Governors across the country have become increasingly frustrated with the confusing messaging and conflicting guidance from the White House and federal government agencies regarding booster shots for the wider population,” Hogan said. “This is one of a number of areas where we are pressing the Biden administration for action.”