Throughout the past 17 months of this deadly pandemic, hospital and health-care workers have been on the front lines. They have seen the pain and damage caused by COVID-19, and as medical professionals, know the science.

Now — as Hawaii saw a stunning 655 new cases Thursday, a one-day record — they are at the front lines of protective policy. Here and nationwide, hospitals and health-care employers are requiring their employees to get vaccinated, to protect workers and patients alike. Last week, Hawaii’s four largest hospital systems — Hawaii Pacific Health, The Queen’s Health Systems, Kaiser Permanente and Adventist Health Castle — announced the vanguard policy, spurred by COVID-19 cases that have spiked dramatically, due to the highly contagious delta variant.

It’s definitely the right call, given the last couple of weeks, with increases in community spread moving in inverse relation to vaccination decreases. Though each hospital system’s policies differ slightly, they all are requiring vaccinations by the end of September or start of October. At Queen’s, effective Oct. 1, all doctors and staff will need to be fully COVID-vaccinated, with those exempted for medical or religious reasons to be subject to weekly testing. Those not tested or testing positive will not be allowed to work.

On Thursday, the dire spike in new cases finally prompted Hawaii’s government sector to likewise announce a vaccine-required policy for its state and county workers. Gov. David Ige, joined by county mayors, said public workers must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination by Aug. 16 or get tested once a week.

Pushing life-saving vaccinations amid surging cases must continue, of course, but government leaders must also move quickly to limit social gathering sizes, backed up with enforcement.

On Thursday, the state’s 655 new coronavirus infections included 428 new cases on Oahu, 69 on Maui, 131 on Hawaii island, seven on Kauai and 20 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside the state. A total of 164 COVID-19 patients were in Hawaii hospitals: 30 in intensive care units and 18 on ventilators. Alarmingly, COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide have been trending upward since the 24 hospitalizations of June 13 — and officials say about 95% of recent hospitalizations have been among unvaccinated residents.

Clearly, a sense of urgency is keenly being felt by the medical centers, which cannot afford many more hospitalizations to further push capacity and staffing limits.

Patients also should be aware that, because of COVID spread, medical facilities are reinstituting restrictions on visitations. Starting this week at Queen’s, for instance, visitors must be COVID-vaccinated in order to visit patients, with exceptions for newborn and end-of-life visits; also, only one visitor will be allowed per patient. On Hawaii island, at least two hospitals, stretched thin, have reinstated no-visitor policies, with some exceptions.

The pressures on hospitals are being seen in their requests for relief medical personnel: Every major Hawaii hospital reportedly is asking for reinforcements from the mainland — a total of more than 500 health-care workers, to be paid for with federal emergency funding.

So unless medical centers can see a decrease in COVID-19 cases soon, expect elective procedures to be curbed or postponed. This setback could be avoided if more vaccinations occur now to slow coronavirus spread.

The critical need to keep hospitals and the people in them healthy during the ongoing COVID-19 fight can’t be overstated. Residents must realize the role and responsibility they have in keeping themselves healthy via COVID-19 vaccinations, to help avoid hospitalization.

Now that the large sectors of government and health care are requiring vaccinations, expect other private businesses to follow. Many more companies that have daily face-to-face interactions with customers must give due weight to workplace safety for the good of all. Helping to restrain the rate of spread will add stability to business operations, while boosting good health for the collective community.