Here’s what we know in Sacramento County as federal COVID-19 mandate takes effect

Americans at companies that employ 100 or more people must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Jan. 4 or be tested weekly, according to a federal mandate that took effect Thursday.

Senior officials said the rule will impact more than 84 million workers across the United States. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, said it expects an additional 23 million people will get vaccinated because of the rule.

How does this affect Sacramento County? Here’s what we know:

Mandate enforcement

During a Sacramento County Health Department Thursday news briefing, a representative said California, OSHA will be the entity governing the mandate.

CalOSHA is currently responsible for issuing citations to employers for violations related to protecting workers from COVID-19.

What companies are affected?

If you work for a company that employs at least 100 people, you’re workplace is likely affected.

But the list of companies and agencies in Sacramento County hasn’t been finalized. You can find a list of major California employers, including in Sacramento, on the state website.

Sacramento’s largest employers are in health care and state government. Both sectors are already subject to state vaccine rules.

California health care and state workers must be vaccinated, while state workers in general are already required to be either vaccinated or tested.

Employees falling under the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard will need to have their final vaccination dose — either their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson — by Jan. 4, according to a White House statement.

Under OSHA, employers must require unvaccinated employees to provide a negative COVID-19 test at least once a week and wear a face mask in the workplace.

Starting on Dec. 5 The Biden Administration is requiring employers to pay workers for the time it takes to get vaccinated and implement masking rules within the workplace for those who are unvaccinated.

New COVID-19 Requirements

Vaccinated employees

Employers must ensure that their employees have received the necessary shots to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 and provide sick leave for workers to recover from any side effects.

Unvaccinated employees

Employers must ensure that unvaccinated employees supply a negative COVID-19 test at least once a week and wear a mask while in the workplace. Employers will not be required to pay or provide tests.

Latest COVID-19 numbers

Across the state, 73.3% of people are fully vaccinated and about 2.6 million boosters have been administered, according to the official California COVID-19 website.

About 58% of Sacramento County is fully vaccinated, which means an individual is at least two weeks past their second dose of a two-dose vaccine.

But the county is still seeing cases.

According to the Sacramento County Public Health, Sacramento recorded 158,529 cases and 2,357 deaths since the pandemic began. As of Sunday, the case rate — or the seven-day average divided by population per 100,000 people — was 15.7.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 12:22 PM.