Although Americans overwhelmingly believe that vaccines should not be mandated by the government, California is moving forward with a plan to mandate that state employees and health care workers get the COVID-19 jab.
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom announced the new plan requiring state employees and health care workers to show proof of vaccination to their employer or submit to mandatory regular COVID-19 testing to remain employed.
The vaccine mandate will become effective for state employees on August 2. The grant will be phased in for private health care workers until August 23, when all covered workers will be required to comply to retain their employment.
In a July 26 announcement, Newsom hailed the employment mandate as “first-in-the-nation standard” that he expected would lead unvaccinated employees to be more willing to take the vaccine injection. He expressed his desire for local governments and private businesses to follow his lead.
In his press release, Newsom stated, “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.”
“As the state’s largest employer, we are leading by example and requiring all state and health care workers to show proof of vaccination or be tested regularly, and we are encouraging local governments and businesses to do the same. 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,” he continued.
In addition to all state employees, the mandate will cover all workers at hospitals, doctors’ offices, nursing homes, homeless shelters, jails, and all other health care settings. In addition to testing, unvaccinated workers will be forced to wear face masks and other PPE.
As justification for the new vaccine mandate, the state’s announcement stated, “the state is seeing increasing numbers of people who refused to get the vaccine being admitted to the ICU and dying. This increase is heavily due to the Delta variant, which is more contagious and kills people faster.”
“The vast majority of new cases are among the unvaccinated, with 600 percent higher case rates among the unvaccinated than for those who are vaccinated,” the announcement continued.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and New York City announced similar vaccine mandates for employees on July 26. Opponents of vaccine mandates are concerned that the spread of governmental vaccine mandates will spread to the private sector.
