Nurse Gail Lautenschuetz draws a dose of coronavirus vaccine Feb. 25 at the North Country Community College gym in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

SARANAC LAKE — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that the state will require all employees at state-run hospitals who work with patients be vaccinated. Adirondack Health, a not-for-profit organization that operates hospitals in Saranac Lake and Lake Placid, as well as a nursing home in Tupper Lake, is not establishing vaccination requirements yet, but is keeping an eye on what the state is requiring, Adirondack Health spokesperson Matt Scollin said.

“Adirondack Health continues to closely monitor local and regional positivity rates and New York State Department of Health guidance out of Albany,” Scollin wrote in an email Wednesday.

Scollin said 96% of Saranac Lake’s Adirondack Medical Center staff are fully vaccinated and that Adirondack Health is encouraging and offering shots to all new staff.

“By now, the vast majority of these new employees were already vaccinated when they applied to work here,” he said.

As the Delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread, largely infecting those not vaccinated against COVID-19, New York is also requiring all state employees get the vaccine or mask up and regularly test negative for the coronavirus. State hospital employees do not have this alternative.

New York’s shot mandate for state workers and state hospital employees will take effect on Sept. 6, Labor Day.

President Joe Biden is considering a similar mandate for all federal employees, according to the Associated Press.

The Delta variant, which is more contagious than the virus that spread across the globe in 2020, made up more than 70% of all recent COVID-19 cases in New York, Cuomo said.

On Monday, Cuomo also asked counties to consider a similar vaccine mandate for hospital staff within their boundaries. The chairmen of the Franklin County Board of Legislators and Essex County Board of Supervisors could not immediately be reached for comment before deadline Wednesday.

Adirondack Medical Center has been a vaccine distribution location for several months now.

“Adirondack Health enthusiastically supports ongoing state and county efforts to promote COVID-19 vaccination in the communities we serve,” Scollin wrote.