SALAMANCA — Neither Salamanca city nor school officials are planning to require COVID-19 vaccines for staff, but most employees at both places have already received the shots.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week said all state employees are required to get vaccinated against the coronavirus by Labor Day or undergo weekly tests. He also called on local governments across New York to follow suit.

At city hall, Mayor Sandra Magiera said a large percentage of city employees have already been vaccinated. For those who haven’t received the vaccine, she said it’s up to the individual at this point.

“They might have to go back to wearing masks, but as far as mandating someone get something they don’t really feel they want, I don’t know if that’s what we would do,” she said.

Magiera said the city does not keep a record of every employee who has been vaccinated. Based on which departments and employees have shared with her if they have or haven’t been, she said the vaccination rate is well over 50%.

“I feel it’s against HIPAA to ask somebody to prove if they’ve been vaccinated or not, but some are open about it so that’s how I know,” the mayor added. “It’s just office talk, and someone might have said, ‘Yes, I’m getting it,’ or, ‘No, I’m not.’”

Although the city is no longer in a state of emergency, the plexiglass barriers have remained up in city offices. Unvaccinated people entering city buildings are recommended to wear masks and social distance.

Magiera said to her knowledge there are no vaccine shots every city employee is required to have. However, she said city firefighters do have to get some vaccines, such as for Hepatitis B, because so many are EMTs.

In the meantime, the mayor advised everyone to use the same precautions and to stay safe as the coronavirus variants spread across the country.

“Hopefully we don’t get it here, but if it does, we’ll handle it when it gets here,” she added.

At the school district, Superintendent Robert Breidenstein said it’s unclear whether a state mandate will come from Albany requiring school employees to vaccinate.

Until then, the district’s approach will encourage but not make staff receive the vaccine by giving them information about it and where they can get one, Breidenstein said.

“Our plan is to continue with the protocols we have in place,” he said of the school’s safety and reopening strategy.

Although the state encouraged districts to track which employees received the vaccine, Salamanca has not been recording who has and has not been vaccinated, Breidenstein said, but the school nurses are in constant conversation with staff who self-report. He said they also know which students have been vaccinated through the clinics the district held but not beyond that.

“Remember, we’re dealing with approximately 1,450 students and approximately 350 staff of full or part time status, so we’re talking about roughly 1,800 individuals who may or may not feel compelled to share that information with us,” he added.

Breidenstein said a rough estimate of 65 to 70 percent of district employees have been vaccinated as of July 30, adding that they figured about 60 percent were vaccinated by late spring.

He also noted that the district does not require employees have any other vaccine in order to be employed at Salamanca.

Looking to the fall, Breidenstein said the district is expecting to have students on campus five days a week with everyone wearing masks inside the buildings and places where they can’t social distance.

“It’s really going to depend upon what guidance the state Department of Health and the executive branch give to the state Education Department,” he said. “I would fully expect, and caution everyone, we’re not out of the woods yet.

“Just like in the past, we’ll focus on safety, wellness and the instruction, and I think we’re closer to focusing in on the instructional side than we were when the pandemic started,” Breidenstein continued. “If things change, we’ll do what Salamanca has done well during the pandemic. We’ll pivot based on the facts on the ground, and we’re in a good position to mobilize quickly. We just want to mobilize quickly to keep kids in school.”