CA To Require Health Care Workers To Get A Booster Shot

CALIFORNIA — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that all health care workers in California will be required to get a booster shot in addition to the precursor doses of Pfizer or Moderna.

The governor offered sparse details on the new mandate, maintaining that an official announcement would be made Wednesday.

"With Omicron on the rise, we’re taking immediate actions to protect Californians and ensure our hospitals are prepared," Newsom said in a statement.

The news comes just hours after the University of California system also announced that a booster shot would be required for returning on-campus students.

READ MORE: UC Mandates Boosters; Some Campuses May Go Remote In January

The Golden State was the first in the U.S. to announce a vaccine mandate for health care workers. The order includes physicians, nurses, technicians, janitors and all other workers in health care facilities.

California's deadline for such workers to get a first dose came down in late September, prompting health care giants such as Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health to suspend unvaccinated workers.

Rules surrounding COVID-19 and vaccination are toughening in California again. Last week, the Golden State's workplace regulators extended coronavirus pandemic regulations into next year and made revisions that have been met with criticism as the state continues to suffer a labor shortage.

The revisions add rules for vaccinated employees and state that they must wear masks and stay 6 feet away from others for 14 days if they return to work after being exposed to someone infected with the virus, according to the state.

Currently, vaccinated employees can work without restrictions unless they show symptoms. Alternatively, an unvaccinated worker must quarantine for two weeks after coming into contact with a sick person.

It remains to be seen whether California will issue more booster shot requirements for state workers and other employees across the state.

As the highly transmissible delta variant swept the nation over the summer, federal officials recommended that all vaccinated Americans get an additional vaccine shot. In recent weeks, the emergence of the omicron variant has driven up cases and triggered concerns of another devastating winter surge.

As of Tuesday, California had a testing positivity rate of 2.8 percent, according to the state, elevated from 2.2 percent exactly one month ago.

READ MORE:

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