Should COVID Vaccination, Testing Be Required For CA's Workforce?

CALIFORNIA — A controversial bill to mandate vaccines or weekly testing for California workers was halted this week amid pushback and concerns of how it could be enforced.

The proposal, which Democratic lawmakers have deliberated on for a month, would require every worker in the state to verify their vaccination status or test weekly. The proposal will be held until next year to allow more time to create the "strongest policy possible," the bill's author, Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), said.

"We've made significant progress over the past couple weeks, and I'm hopeful that this conversation will ultimately lead to an increase in vaccination rates and a decrease in COVID deaths and [intensive care unit] stays," Wicks said.

The bill, officially announced by Wicks on Monday, would have required both public and private sector employers across the state to require vaccination of or impose a weekly testing requirement on employees.

In a recent, non-scientific survey, we asked Patch readers to share their thoughts on the bill. The survey — which drew more than 3,256 voters and appeared in this article on Patch — is meant not to be a scientific poll but only to give a broad idea of public sentiment.

Some 64 percent of respondents in the survey reported that they were fully vaccinated, but nearly 60 percent of voters were mostly against instating vaccine or testing mandates for workers.

Nearly 1,130 respondents said they were unvaccinated. Of them, 77.1 percent said they were not planning on getting a shot, 8.1 percent said they were planning on getting vaccinated and 14.8 percent said they were unsure.

We asked readers: Do you think all California workers should be required to verify their vaccination status or submit to weekly testing?

• 58.5 percent said "no."
• 39.3 percent said "yes."
• 2.1 percent said they were "unsure."

To date, only Pfizer's BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Wicks' proposal stopped short of requiring vaccinations for workers as the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved Moderna or Johnson & Johnson's product. It remains to be seen if such mandates come down for residents if all vaccines gain federal approval.

We asked readers: If all available vaccines receive FDA approval, do you think the state should impose a vaccine mandate for workers?

• 58.7 percent said "no."
• 38.4 percent said "yes."
• 2.9 percent said they were "unsure."

The proposal to create one of the toughest coronavirus-related mandates yet comes as political tensions rise around vaccination measures.

Gubernatorial candidate and Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) swiftly vowed to fight the bill last week.

"Our victory over AB 455 will be short-lived if we don't keep up the pressure and elect a Governor who understands the Constitution is more than a piece of paper," Kiley tweeted on Tuesday.

A previous draft of Wicks' bill, obtained by the Los Angeles Times last week, would have called for anyone entering a restaurant, bar, gym, hotel or event center to show proof of full vaccination. It's unclear whether that text made it into the most recent version of the bill.

"We all want these tragic times to be over, and to see the pandemic behind us — and the fact is that vaccinations are our pathway there," Wicks said.

We asked readers to share their thoughts on the issue:

We are talking about life and death, not uncomfortable mask wearing.

Our experience with Covid and previous pandemics demonstrate it takes mandates.

No one should be forced to do any medical procedure or vaccine. We have the constitutional-protected and guaranteed right to life and the right to determine what is done with our body.

People have various reasons for refusing the vaccine their will and choices should be considered

Our bodies our choice - it’s a bully tactic to hold people’s livelihoods hostage
So will a vaccination card be needed for every flu, disease if this bill passes?

I am most worried for my grandchildren who, because of their ages, are unable to get vaccinated.

Everyone should be vaccinated if we are to help prevent further spread

We were required to get the MMR, DPT, polio innoculations for attending grade school and more recently highly recommended to take flu shots - so why the uproar over another preventative measure to protect ones health and the well being of others?

State officials are scrambling to find solutions to a new phase of the pandemic in which the delta variant rips through the unvaccinated population as Californians return to their workplaces and social lives. The coronavirus mutation is highly transmissible and more likely to infect the vaccinated, albeit at a lower rate.

Another variant also arrived in the state recently. The mu variant was designated by the World Health Organization as a "variant of interest" last week. It remains unclear how much protection the current vaccines will offer against mu. Early data has shown that the variant could evade certain antibodies induced by vaccination, the Washington Post reported.

Dr. Anthony Fauci assured last week that vaccines would remain effective and that there was a lack of research to show that the mu variant would evade them completely.