COVID-19 Vaccine, Testing Mandates Blasted By Local Lawmaker

MURRIETA, CA — The California State Senator who represents Southwest Riverside County and the Coachella Valley announced on Monday that she has introduced a resolution aimed at roadblocking COVID-19 vaccination and/or testing mandates in the state.

Sen. Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 59, which, if adopted, could, for example, prevent an employer from taking any action against an employee who refuses COVID-19 vaccination and/or testing.

In a statement released Monday, Melendez attacked state mandates that are now in place for health care workers, state workers, and workers in congregate settings. These workers must get vaccinated or submit to regular COVID-19 testing. There are exceptions based on religion and/or health status. The California State University and University of California systems have adopted a similar policy for students, faculty and staff.

"Californians have a right to decide what they choose to put in their bodies without being threatened with their jobs by government or employers,” Melendez said. "Our Constitution allows free-thinking people to take responsibility and make decisions for themselves and their families; and those decisions should be free from retaliation or coercion by their government."

On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine received full FDA approval. The vaccine will now be marketed as Comirnaty. The approval potentially paves the way for more employers and institutions to mandate COVID-19 vaccination.

According to Melendez, mandates discriminate against "those making informed decisions not to receive a COVID vaccine. ... Asking for passports or papers to verify your vaccine status to ride a bus, attend school or receive benefits is simply un-American."

SCR 59 would, if adopted, amend Section 120140 of the California Health and Safety Code by adding the following proposed subdivision:

"Any preventive, diagnostic, or therapeutic medical intervention taken by the department to ascertain the nature of the disease and to prevent its spread shall be carried out with the voluntary and informed consent of an individual or their guardian. The consent shall, where appropriate, be express, and may be withdrawn by the individual or their guardian for any reason without prejudice ... ”

In July, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion on the matter of mandating Emergency Use Authorization vaccines. According to the opinion, public and private entities are not prevented from imposing vaccine requirements.

People must be informed of their “option to accept or refuse” the vaccine, but that does not prohibit employers from mandating vaccination as "a condition of employment," according to the opinion.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has also followed legal opinion and has encouraged all local government and other employers to adopt a similar protocol.

"We are now dealing with a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and it’s going to take renewed efforts to protect Californians from the dangerous Delta variant," Newsom said last month when he announced the mandates. "Vaccines are safe — they protect our family, those who truly can’t get vaccinated, our children and our economy. Vaccines are the way we end this pandemic."

Meanwhile, Riverside County COVID-19 hospitalizations climbed past 600 on Monday.

According to data released by Riverside University Health System, 64 new COVID-related hospitalizations were reported over the weekend, bringing the countywide number to 621. The number of patients admitted to intensive care units increased by 25 from Friday, to 131.

The last time the county rose to 600 hospitalizations was Nov. 30, RUHS spokesman Jose Arballo told City News Service.

Four additional virus-related deaths were reported Monday, bringing the county's total to 4,701. Fatalities are trailing indicators because of delays processing death certificates and can date back weeks.

Four additional virus-related deaths were reported Monday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections recorded in the county to 327,971 since March 2020, when the pandemic began.

The vaccination rate for people 12 and older stood at 52.4 percent Monday in Riverside County.