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SAN DIEGO (CNS) – San Diego County officials and public health officials on Monday recommended that all employers in the county begin requiring COVID-19 vaccines for their employees or require weekly testing for the virus.
The recommendation comes a day before the county begins collecting proof of vaccination from its 18,000 employees before the requirement goes into effect next Monday. County employees who are unwilling or unable to receive the vaccine will undergo weekly COVID-19 tests and are required to wear masks indoors.
Supervisory board chairman Nathan Fletcher raised the possibility of penalties linked to the fraudulent evidence, but said the county was still in negotiations over what that might be.
The delta variant of the virus is considerably more contagious than previous strains and now comprises 95% of the virus genome, Dr Wilma Wooten, county public health official, said at a press conference on Monday.
“We are in the middle of the outbreak right now,” she said, referring to a spike in coronavirus infections in recent weeks far exceeding the outbreak last summer and matching the early trajectory of last fall and peak winter.
“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Wooten said.
The county is far from the first entity to require proof of employee vaccination, with the City of San Diego, Scripps Health, Sharp HealthCare and others requiring employees to be vaccinated, with a few exceptions.
“Scripps is complying with the state mandate that those who have not been vaccinated must be fully vaccinated by September 30 or be granted a religious or medical exemption in order to be employed beyond that date here – or possibly any other state health care organization in the state, ”according to a Scripps release.
However, Fletcher hopes the weight of the county government – as the county’s fifth employer – will change the minds of some hesitant or recalcitrant residents. He said he had spoken to several large employers who were hoping an additional push from the county could allow them to install a similar policy.
“There is a segment of the population that is ready (to be vaccinated), but needs a boost,” Fletcher said.
He admitted there were also people who would likely never be vaccinated, but said he hoped enough people could be vaccinated to significantly reduce the spread.
In the past 30 days, 92% of all COVID-19 cases have occurred in people not fully immunized. Of the remaining 8%, said Eric McDonald, chief medical officer for San Diego County, few have symptoms and those that do are relatively mild.
He encouraged those with symptoms to get tested as soon as possible, as many wait for days – which means if a person is positive, they likely have multiple opportunities to spread the disease.
Supervisor Nora Vargas reminded residents that the county has expanded testing sites across the region, so if employees refuse vaccinations, testing can theoretically be an easy and straightforward process.
Of all those hospitalized in the past 30 days, 98% are not vaccinated, with 13 fully vaccinated people sent to hospital and 521 of those without a vaccine have been hospitalized.
While San Diego County is not under the immense strain of other parts of California and other states, Fletcher reminded people to continue to take the pandemic seriously as many hospitals in the area are facing it. staff shortages – at least partially attributed to burnout and fatigue. .
“We know the vaccine is the safest and most effective way to avoid getting sick,” he said. “The risk to fully vaccinated people is extremely low.”
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