New Vaccination Rules As Riverside County's COVID Rates Increase

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The number of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continues to tick up in Riverside County and across the state, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to announce on Monday that all state employees and health care workers in California must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Those who are unable or refuse will have to be tested at least once a week, according to the governor.

The vaccine-verification program for the state's roughly 246,000 employees is expected to begin as early as next week.

The system for health-care workers will be implemented over the coming weeks, with compliance expected by Aug. 23. It will apply to all public and private health-care settings across the state, including Riverside County.

Newsom's announcement comes in response to rising COVID-19 infection numbers and hospitalizations statewide. According to state officials, there were nearly 3,000 people hospitalized in California due to COVID as of Monday, up from about 900 on May 15. The average daily rate of new cases is now at 9.6 per 100,000 people, up from 1.9 per 100,000 on May 15.

State officials noted that the daily infection rate among unvaccinated residents is believed to be more than 14 per 100,000, compared to about 2 per 100,000 among the vaccinated population. That equates to unvaccinated residents being infected at roughly seven times the rate of vaccinated people.

"Too many people have chosen to live with this virus," Newsom said during a news conference in Oakland to announce the requirement. "We're at a point in this epidemic, this pandemic, where individuals' choice not to get vaccinated is now impacting the rest of us in a profound and devastating and deadly way. That choice has led to an increase in case rates, growing concern around increase in death rates and self-evidently around hospitalization rates."

In announcing the policy, state officials urged private employers in California to consider implementing similar systems of verifying vaccination and requiring testing for unvaccinated workers. Current workplace rules in the state only require employers to verify workers' vaccination status if they want to remove face masks in indoor workplaces. Unvaccinated workers must wear masks indoors.

State officials said private employers have the legal authority, if they choose, to require workers to be vaccinated.

Newsom said he hopes the state's policy will encourage other businesses "across the spectrum" to take similar steps.

He noted that the state has seen an uptick in the number of people getting vaccinated in recent weeks. State officials said there was a 16 percent increase last week in the number of people getting their first dose of the vaccine, compared to the previous week.

But Newsom also had strong words for "the right-wing echo chamber" that he said has politicized the virus and spread misinformation about the vaccines, contributing to hesitancy among many people.

"We are exhausted, respectfully, exhausted by the ideological prison that too many Americans are living under," Newsom said. "We're exhausted by the Ron Johnsons and the Tucker Carlsons, we're exhausted by the Marjorie Taylor-Greens, we're exhausted by the right-wing echo chamber that has been perpetuating misinformation around the vaccine and its efficacy and safety. We're exhausted by the politicization of this pandemic and that includes mask-wearing, which has been equated to the Holocaust. It's disgraceful. It's unconscionable. And it needs to be called out.

"... It's a choice to live with this virus, and with all due respect, you don't have a choice to go out and drink and drive and put everybody else's lives at risk," Newsom continued. "That's the equivalent of this moment with the deadliness and efficiency of the Delta virus. You're putting other people's — innocent people's — lives at risk. You're putting businesses at risk. You're putting at risk the ability to educate our kids by getting them back in person full-time for in-person instruction.

"... Your choice not to get vaccinated and to listen to these pundits who are profiteering off misinformation, intentionally misinforming you, comes at a real societal cost," the governor said.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, responded to Newsom on Twitter, writing, "Gavin Newsom, you know what is exhausting to the people of California? Your communist dictatorship. Shutting down businesses, closing churches, schools and beaches is disgraceful. ... Which is why you're being recalled."

The state has not issued a new mask-wearing mandate like the one recently implemented in Los Angeles County by local officials, requiring face coverings for everyone indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

Mask-wearing will be required in schools as they return to in-person instruction. Newsom noted that teachers are not state employees and thus will not be impacted by the vaccination-verification program.

Riverside County's COVID numbers

In Riverside County, the number of COVID-positive hospital patients rose by 24 over the weekend, for a total of 190 people currently being treated. That total includes 47 patients in intensive care units, 15 more than Friday, according to Riverside University Health System.

The total number of COVID cases recorded since the public health documentation period began in March 2020 stood at 305,589, up by 394 since Friday, RUHS officials said.

State and federal officials have expressed concern about the spread of COVID variants in unvaccinated people. While RUHS is now tracking variant infections, the data lag can be up to a month. So even though the last county update was July 21, the figures did not reflect all cases up to that time period, much less current infections through Monday.

The July 21 RUHS update showed 149 cases of the B.1.1.7 U.K. or Alpha variant; 0 cases of the B.1.351 South Africa or Beta variant; 11 cases of the P.1 Brazil or Gamma variant; and 25 cases of the B.1.617.2 India or Delta variant.

RUHS reported 4,658 deaths from virus-related complications have been recorded in the last 16 months, unchanged since Friday's reporting.

The county continues to maintain a vaccine portal where people can register to get vaccinated (registration is not required, however). Access the site here.

The number of fully vaccinated Riverside County residents 12 years of age and older stood at 1,033,988 Monday, or 49.1 percent of the eligible population.

Riverside County's figures show that since June 14 — the day before the state reopened — new COVID hospitalizations and infections have increased more dramatically than vaccination rates.

On June 14, just 33 people were hospitalized countywide with COVID; nine of those patients were in intensive care units, according to RUHS data.

The total number of COVID infections was reported at 301,329 on June 14, an increase of 4,260 since that time. The death toll was reported at 4,620, which is 38 people fewer than Monday's update.

On June 14, 42.6 percent of the county's vaccination-eligible population was fully vaccinated, according to RUHS. While the county's vaccination rate has slowly increased, it still falls below the state's fully vaccinated rate of 62.1 percent.

—City News Service contributed to this report.