Maine EMS board seeks to relax vaccine mandate, fearing needed workers ‘walk away’

The Maine Board of Emergency Medical Services passed an emergency rule on Monday that effectively narrows the scope of a state mandate requiring all healthcare workers and emergency medical personnel to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before October.

The board took action after hearing several hours of testimony from dozens of EMS workers, many of whom say the mandate eliminates medical autonomy and will force some to quit their jobs at a time when staff shortages are already widespread.

The rule would give licensed EMS workers an additional month to be fully vaccinated and exempt EMS dispatchers and students who do not work directly with patients from the mandate.

However, it is not known what the impact of the rule will be, given strong opposition to mandatory vaccination by some EMS staff. Additionally, a board member insisted that the rule did not affect the original tenure announced Aug. 12 by Governor Janet Mills, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

“What we are doing today has no impact in one way or another on the existence of the CDC rule,” said Joe Kellner, board member, who proposed changes. to the EMS rule which reduced its scope and granted additional time to comply.

The governor’s office did not respond to an email request for comment on the board’s action.

Mills announced this month that all staff in hospitals and nursing homes, as well as dentists, EMS staff and other healthcare workers, will need to receive their final dose of vaccine by the 17th. September. Mills said the “aggressive but achievable” schedule means all should be fully vaccinated against the viral disease by October 1.

The EMS board voted 9-7 in favor of a state of emergency, which will be in effect from August 23 to November 21, rather than November 15 as originally proposed. Under the rule, emergency medical services workers will have until October 15, rather than October 1, to prove that they have received their last vaccine and that they will be fully immunized no later than October 29. October.

In addition, the rule would give exempt EMS staff the option of being tested before each shift, or up to three times a week, if test kits are available free of charge.

The board also approved a resolution asking DHHS and CDC to include representatives from Maine EMS in their formal review of the tenure, or at least limit the scope of the tenure to EMS workers who engage in care. direct to patients. According to Maine EMS guidelines, that means staff work within 6 feet or less of patients for 15 minutes or more, Kellner said.

Kellner noted that EMS agencies must report the percentage of staff vaccinated to the state by September 1, and he requested that those numbers be provided to the board for review at its September meeting.

While some board members opposed the emergency rule and the vaccine requirement, Dr. John Martel, an emergency physician at Maine Medical Center, offered a frontline perspective before voting in favor of the rule.

“We are at a point where our armed forces are going to be vaccinated, so I think we have to take into account the gravity of the situation,” Martel said. “We have seen a very, very large increase in cases, to the point where it is causing virtual paralysis within the hospital system.”

Yet as the board prepared to vote, people watching the debates on Facebook posted comments wondering why the board wouldn’t reject the mandate altogether.

“The rule may be temporary, but the vaccine is permanent,” wrote Karen Cassidy, whose Facebook profile says she is an advanced emergency medical technician with Freeport Fire & Rescue.

The council is the state agency that oversees and authorizes EMS professionals, including fire and ambulance services. He held an emergency public hearing on Monday to hear from members on the mandate Mills announced this month.

There were 5,557 certified EMS workers in Maine in 2018, according to a report from Maine EMS.

Chris Thomson of Limington, leader of the Portland Fire Department, spoke out against a vaccine warrant for paramedics at a hearing Monday. Ben McCanna / Personal Photographer

More than 650 people joined the Zoom online meeting, which began at 9 a.m. Most of those who spoke voiced their opposition to the mandate and their arguments overlapped. The biggest concern was the potential loss of workers who are unwilling to comply with the mandate.

“There are people who are ready to walk away,” said Kyle Baker, an employee of Winthrop Ambulance Service. “It puts enormous pressure on those who remain. “

Chris Thomson, president of the union that represents Portland firefighters, said the department had not had a work-related COVID case for 18 months. He said the members pose no risk to the public.

“We have members who will walk,” said Thomson. “We are seriously worried about completing the mission. “

Sanford Fire Chief Steve Benotti said he too expects to lose staff if this mandate holds.

“I believe in vaccination but I am against the mandate,” he said. “I haven’t seen any data showing that EMS is a problem spreading the virus.”

Benotti echoed several others in suggesting an alternative to the warrant – allowing unvaccinated people to undergo regular testing. Others questioned whether emergency dispatchers, who do not interact with the public, should be included.

Many of those who spoke on Monday said they were vaccinated and supported generalized vaccinations, but not a warrant.

“It takes away the right to autonomy. This is what we preach to patients, and yet we cannot practice it ourselves, ”said Jenny Sheriff of Delta Ambulance.

Since Mills announced that all healthcare workers in Maine should be vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs by October 1, there has been a significant setback. Some were led by anti-vaccine campaigners and some elected officials, but emergency service professionals became a particularly strong voice.

The state council was due to meet last week, but officials had to postpone because they had not sufficiently prepared for a large turnout.

Maine Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck spoke ahead of the public hearing and acknowledged that “a lot of people are passionate about this.” He also said he understands that the mandate was announced quickly and without much input from stakeholders and he apologized to the membership for that.

To meet the October 1 deadline, unvaccinated workers should have received their first dose of Moderna vaccine by August 20, their first dose of Pfizer vaccine by August 27, or the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine by September . 17.

Some questioned why they weren’t given more time to implement the mandate, while others spoke of the importance of being able to choose.

Dr Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, briefly addressed the council ahead of the public hearing. He praised SMU officials as “the best partners we have in our fight against COVID” and “a vital part of the healthcare community”.

“This is one of the reasons we felt it was worth including them in this,” Shah said.

While critics outnumbered supporters significantly, some spoke in favor of the mandate.

“I believe in the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Phil Selberg, deputy fire chief in South Portland. “It’s about being part of a bigger team.”

Following the public hearing, Brad Chicoine, a member of the board of directors of EMS, a firefighter in Saco, warned other members against treating the public comments made on Monday as “gospel”. He said he had heard from so many people who support the vaccine requirement.

“There is a bigger picture involved,” he said, adding that he was not sure the mandate would lead to some fear of a mass exodus of workers.

Monday’s debate comes amid a dramatic increase in cases in recent weeks. Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 jumped to 123 on Monday, from 98 on Friday and the highest since May 15. Of those hospitalized, 61 are in intensive care, the highest total since January 23 – a full eight months ago.

Shortly after the meeting began, the FDA announced that it had given full clearance for the Pfizer vaccine, somewhat blunting the argument put forward by some that the vaccine only had a clearance for use. emergency and therefore should not be mandatory. The Pentagon said shortly after the FDA’s announcement that it would require the military to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and other employer mandates will likely follow.

Another concern raised by EMS professionals in Maine on Monday was about the transmissibility of the delta variant, which led to the recent outbreak both in Maine and across the country. Research has suggested that vaccinated people who contract the virus have the same viral load as unvaccinated people, which means they can spread it just as easily.

“If (people) vaccinated and unvaccinated are still carriers, what’s the benefit? Asked Paul Silva of Standish EMS. Silva also said he experienced side effects after receiving the vaccine.

Chris Clark, who works for AMS Ambulance, said he was vaccinated but had the same question.

“Why the warrant when we can still get COVID?” He said, adding that vaccinated people who contract the virus often have no symptoms. “Wouldn’t we be more likely to pass it on to patients if we didn’t know we have COVID? “

Although Maine’s vaccination rate has reached 62 percent, there are still more than 500,000 people – including all under the age of 12 who are not eligible – who are not vaccinated.

The most recent data tracked by the Maine CDC shows that since the state began administering the vaccine, 863 of 37,993 new cases have been breakthrough cases. It’s 2 percent. In addition, of the 852 people hospitalized since the authorization of the vaccines, only 35 have been vaccinated, or 4%.

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