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Health workers in three Bay Area counties announced Thursday that they want all employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with a few exceptions.
“With the increase in COVID-19 cases leaving unvaccinated people at risk of serious illness and death, health workers in Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties are urging all employers to consider implementing implement COVID-19 workplace safety protocols that require their workforce. get the full vaccine as soon as possible, ”said Dr. George Han, Santa Clara County Assistant Health Officer. “We know that vaccines are the best tool we have in the fight against COVID-19 and that they are safe and effective even in the context of the Delta variant. “
The Delta variant is now the predominant variant in California and the United States.
“One of the reasons this recommendation is happening right now is that all Bay Area counties have seen a dramatic increase in (COVID-19) cases over the past few weeks,” Dr Naveena said. Bobba, Acting San Francisco County Health Officer. . “We actually now have the ability to prevent hospitalizations from COVID-19… there is an urgent need for the unvaccinated to get vaccinated. “
Most COVID-19 restrictions, along with mask warrants, were officially lifted statewide on June 15, however, concerns about the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus surfaced soon after. On July 8, health officials in Santa Clara County and six other Bay Area counties recommended that all residents resume wearing masks indoors, regardless of their immunization status.
There is no indication yet that Cal / OSHA, the statewide workplace safety enforcement agency, will create an employee vaccination mandate.
Currently, California has no rules or laws that require a COVID-19 vaccine, leaving employers to take a more piecemeal approach. While San Francisco County announced in June that all 35,000 and more city employees would be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 soon, Santa Clara County does not have a similar mandate project for public or private employees.
The University of California school system announced earlier this year that all students, staff and faculty returning to campus this fall will also need to be fully immunized against the virus.
Han said the local public health department had gathered feedback from employers in Santa Clara County. Some employers have asked for a recommendation for a vaccine requirement for employees, he said.
“There are other employers… (who said they would appreciate) a recommendation like this, which is one of the reasons we wanted to do that and come up with this recommendation,” Han said.
Silicon Valley Organization CEO Derrick Seaver told the San José Spotlight on Thursday that, based on his conversations with its members, this was a generally welcome recommendation.
“We absolutely appreciate and support the recommendations that have been made, both on masking and now on vaccinations,” Seaver said. “The recommendation, for us, is certainly the preferable route here compared to mandates… Each company is going to have a different structure, a different configuration and legally different issues that they will have to manage individually. And I think they will be able to overcome that. “
From the start, businesses wanted to do everything possible to reopen as quickly and safely as possible, Seaver said, and this recommendation is no exception.
“As this (recommendation) unfolds and future recommendations unfold, our only request to the health department here has been, as much as they can, to provide our (companies) with clear advice. and consistency, ”Seaver said. “I truly believe that when this is provided people are willing and ready to help.”
Health workers also recommended more stringent workplace safety measures than the state on Thursday, including requiring paper, medical-grade masks instead of cloth masks for employees, and testing unvaccinated employees for COVID. -19 at least once a week.
“The California Department of Public Health works closely with OSHA,” Bobba said. “As case rates rise and the state of the disease changes, discussions are ongoing about what should be the safest work environment. “
On Thursday, the 7-day moving average of COVID-19 cases in Santa Clara County was 113 per day. According to the county variant tracker, 99 infections have been identified as the Delta Sars-Cov-2 variant. However, identifying variants requires a process called genetic sequencing, which is currently only performed on a small percentage of tests.
Dr Chris Farnitano, health official for Contra Costa County, said his county’s infection rate is between 10 and 20 times higher in unvaccinated people than in those who have been vaccinated.
“This increase that we are seeing is in the unvaccinated population,” Farnitano said. “We see that COVID-19 is here to stay and the choice is, ‘Am I going to get vaccinated? Or ‘Am I going to get the vaccine?’ “
In Santa Clara County, 77.1% of eligible residents, or more than 1.3 million people, are fully immunized, one of the highest rates in the state.
To date, 1,706 county residents have died from COVID-19 and more than 121,000 residents have contracted the virus since the start of the pandemic.
Masks are still mandatory in medical facilities, on public transport, in schools, prisons and homeless shelters. For all employees who are not yet fully immunized, employers must require and enforce masking under state law.
To find walk-in vaccination sites, make an appointment, request a mobile home vaccination, and find information on vaccine safety, visit www.sccfreevax.org.
Contact Madelyn Reese at [email protected] or follow @MadelynGReese on Twitter.
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