In a week where the federal government said people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely return to some forms of maskless, pre-pandemic socializing, active cases of the viral disease fell across the National Nuclear Security Administration complex as vaccinations rose.
The agency reported 138 active cases of COVID-19 among its civilians and contractors on Friday, down 39 from the week before, a spokesperson from headquarters in Washington wrote in an email.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) no longer reports the number of new infections recorded each week. The agency wracked up more than 5,000 cumulative confirmed positive cases before it stopped sharing data publicly in mid-April.
Likewise, the agency does not say how many people across the nuclear security enterprise have been vaccinated.
Some sites do, however, and those that are reporting numbers say there were more fully vaccinated employees this week than last week.
Spokespersons for the Nevada National Security Site, the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., all said vaccination was not a condition of employment at their sites.
Spokespersons at the Kansas City National Security Campus in Missouri, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California would not say if vaccination was a condition of employment at their sites.
Turning to the numbers, as of May 4, more than 1,700 Pantex employees were fully vaccinated, flat compared with last week, and almost 3,200 Y-12 employees are fully vaccinated, up about 200 compared with last week, a spokesperson for the jointly managed sites wrote Friday in an email.
Y-12 began providing vaccinations on Wednesday, March 31 and began giving second-dose vaccinations on April 22, 2021.
As of Wednesday May 5, the Nevada National Security Site had vaccinated more than 2,000 personnel with a first dose, up 100 from a week ago, and more than 1,900 personnel with a second dose, also up about 100 week-to-week, a spokesperson wrote Friday in an email.
National Laboratories Cases
Following are the reported numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases at NNSA nuclear weapons laboratories, along with increases relative to the prior week and the number of people vaccinated, as provided Friday by the labs.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory:
Cases: 332 (+3)
At deadline Friday, Livermore had given out at least 2,300 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, a spokesperson wrote in an email.
Livermore is a designated point of distribution for the vaccine in California and in March received its stockpile of doses from DOE and NNSA in collaboration with the Pentagon, the Livermore spokesperson has said.
Those doses administered so far covered “about one quarter of our population,” the lab spokesperson has said.
Los Alamos National Laboratory:
Cases: 845 (+6. 814 people who got sick had recovered, as of deadline). Los Alamos has vaccinated many staff on site, but a spokesperson declined to say how many personnel there had received doses.
Internal tests: 18,854 (+286. A lab spokesperson said Friday these on-site tests have resulted in 262 positive results, up by two, compared with last week).
Teleworking: Roughly 55% of all employees, down about five percent, compared with last week.
Sandia National Laboratories:
In March, Sandia National Laboratories instituted a one-week lag time reporting COVID data to the public. Below are the most recent numbers available for Sandia at deadline, which were current as of May 7.
Cases: 872 (+7).
Internal tests: 12,035 (+65).
Sandia started vaccinations the week of Jan. 11.
Since then, a total of 10,627 people had been fully vaccinated at Sandia at deadline, up 1,076 from a week ago, a spokesperson said Friday.
At Sandia’s New Mexico site, 3,635 people had been fully vaccinated through the onsite clinic as of Friday, up 192 from a week ago. Another 5,798 people had been fully vaccinated at offsite locations, up 732 from last week.
At Sandia’s California site, 380 people had been fully vaccinated onsite while another 814 people had been fully vaccinated at offsite locations, up 155 from a week ago.
Teleworking: Roughly 55% of all employees, down 10%, compared with the prior week.
