Los Angeles County Mandates Vaccines For 110,000 Employees

LOS ANGELES, CA — All of Los Angeles County's 110,000 employees temployees will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 1 under an executive order issued Wednesday by Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda L. Solis. It's one of the most stringent municipal employee vaccine mandates in the nation in that it doesn't give employees the option of submitting to regular COVID-19 testing in lieu of vaccination.

Solis issued the order on the same day the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported its highest daily number of new COVID-19 infections since early February, 3,734 when the region was still in the grips of the winter surge.

"With the rapid spread of the Delta variant, our daily cases have increased nearly 18-fold and hospitalizations more than five-fold," Solis said.

"As vaccinations continue at a pace slower than what is necessary to slow the spread, the need for immediate action is great."

The order leaves room for exemptions for medical and religious purposes, Solis said. It applies to every department in the county.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.