California to require COVID vaccines for health care workers, state employees in Newsom order

California state workers and health care employees must demonstrate proof of vaccination or else continue to wear masks and undergo regular COVID-19 testing, under new rules announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration Monday morning.

The rules come into effect as the state continues to see a growing number of Delta variant cases. The Delta variant of COVID-19, while not more dangerous, is much more contagious than other variants of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

California is recording an average of 7,500 new COVID-19 cases per day, according to the Department of Public Health. The Delta variant accounts for 83% of new cases across the country, the CDC reported last week.

Nearly 3,000 people are hospitalized with the virus, according to the Department of Public Health, up from less than 1,000 in the past six weeks but still well below the winter peak of more than 20,000, according to the health department.

California began offering vaccines for COVID-19 to health care workers in December and made the shots widely available to all adults in April.

According to the latest state data, 62% of Californians have been fully vaccinated, with 9% having received one shot.

Newsom said the administration adopted the new rules to encourage other businesses employers to enact similar requirements. He said increasing the state’s vaccination rate is critical to keeping the state’s economy open and to eventually relaxing mask requirements in schools.

“Too many people have chosen to live with this virus. We’re at a point where choice, individuals’ choice not to get vaccinated, is now impacting the rest of us.”

Health Secretary Mark Ghaly urged people who have gotten the first shot to get their second as well, and noted a 16% increase in those who got their first shots last week.

“I’m certain that people who were saying I’ll wait a little bit longer to get vaccinated are realizing the Delta variant has really changed the game a bit. This is not, as someone said, your grandmother’s COVID anymore. This is a very different beast,” he said.

COVID-19 vaccinations lag in California prisons

Under the new rule, issued jointly by California Department of Human Resources and the Department of Public Health, state workers will have until Aug. 2 to prove to their employer that they were vaccinated.

Those who refuse or fail to do so will be required to continue wearing a mask at work, and also submit to weekly COVID-19 tests.

Previously, state workers were allowed to self-attest that they were vaccinated in order to remove their masks, with some exceptions.

About 246,000 people are employed by California state government, outside of public universities. Many of them work in state prisons, which saw severe COVID-19 outbreaks last year.

Today, about 52% of California’s 65,000 prison employees are fully vaccinated, according to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Likewise, all health workers in the state, public and private, will be expected to provide proof of vaccination or else be required to wear a mask, possibly an N95 mask.

Health care workers who don’t show proof of vaccination could be tested for COVID-19 up to twice a week, according to the Department of Public Health.

Nurses, doctors call for vaccine requirements

San Francisco in June became the first local government in the country to require COVID-19 vaccines for its public employees. The California State University and University of California systems are also requiring vaccines for students and faculty to return to class.

The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday also announced it intends to require its health care employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

The American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association on Monday released a letter urging health care systems to require COVID-19 vaccines for their employees, The Washington Post reported.

“We call for all health care and long-term care employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against covid-19,” reads the letter signed by dozens of health care organizations. “The health and safety of U.S. workers, families, communities, and the nation depends on it.”

Sen. Richard Pan, a Sacramento Democrat and pediatrician who wrote California’s strong vaccine laws, said the mandate will protect both patients and the public from being exposed by those who they should be able to trust most.

“Ultimately,” Pan said, “state workers are public servants. They work really hard to keep us safe, and part of keeping people safe in a pandemic is getting vaccinated.”

Pan also said that driving up vaccination rates among medical professionals and state workers will prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, and reduce absenteeism in the workplace because fewer people are getting sick.

“Tragedy actually hurts morale,” he added. “When you have a co-worker who is in the hospital, the ICU, and dies.”

Can employers require COVID vaccines?

Legal experts say employers for decades have held fairly broad authority to compel their workers to get vaccinated, as long as exceptions are made for health or religious reasons. Just last fall the courts rejected a lawsuit filed by several UC employees, including a UC Davis associate vice chancellor, challenging the university’s mandate on flu vaccines.

But experts say the fact that the COVID-19 vaccines haven’t been fully approved by the government could cause a gray area in the law. For now, the vaccines are being deployed through the Food and Drug Administration’s “emergency use authorization” program.

Although vaccination rates are higher among doctors, as many as 25% hospital workers hadn’t been vaccinated as of late May, according to data compiled by WebMD.

The California Hospital Association said it supports Newsom’s decision.

“Requiring health care settings, including hospitals, to verify the vaccination status of all health care workers — and to expect those who are unvaccinated to wear masks and be tested regularly — are important and necessary steps that must be taken in this extraordinary situation,” said association CEO Carmela Coyle in a prepared statement.

This story was originally published July 26, 2021 at 10:30 AM with the headline "California to require COVID vaccines for health care workers, state employees in Newsom order."