State employees and health care workers in the state of California will soon be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine or be subjected to weekly COVID-19 testing, officials said Monday.
The requirement for state employees and health care workers to prove their vaccination status or undergo weekly testing will take effect next month, according to The Associated Press (AP). Those who do not show proof of vaccination will also be required to keep wearing masks while at work. However, officials noted that most of the employees affected by the policy are already vaccinated.
“An individual’s choice not to get vaccinated is now impacting the rest of us in a profound and devastating and deadly way,” said Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who faces a recall election later this year.
LA County, the largest county in the US, says vaccines don’t work.
This is misinformation, @PressSec. Vaccines work.
So we’ve asked the California Supreme Court to stop this mandate for the vaccinated (both naturally and man made).
Please support us: https://t.co/z5qv7dK9VP https://t.co/zOKmw8YwFM
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) July 17, 2021
California has at least 238,000 state employees, and more than 2 million health care workers across the public and private sector, according to The AP, citing the California controller’s office data.
As it stands, over 60% of Californians over 18 years old are fully vaccinated, according to The New York Times. However, cases of the delta variant are reportedly rising in the state, specifically among the unvaccinated, The AP noted.
“If they’re not vaccinated and we cannot verify that they’ve been vaccinated, we are requiring that they get tested,” Newsom went on to say of workers subjected to the new rule. “California is committed to vaccination, verification and or testing on a weekly basis. We’re not stopping just with state employees.” (RELATED: California Launches Digital Pass For Residents To Prove They’ve Gotten Vaccine)
Newsom also hinted that vaccine verification will soon be required for workers at jails and homeless shelters, according to The AP.