With COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions and deaths going in the right direction, the Los Angeles County’s Department of Health has set the schedule and deadlines for vaccine requirements that will go into effect this fall.
LA City employees must be fully vaccinated on October 5th. In order to participate in outdoor mega events, bars, breweries, wineries and nightclubs, at least one dose of the vaccine must be proven by October 7th. LA County’s K-12 School staff must be fully vaccinated by October 15. , On Halloween, LAUSD students participating in extracurricular activities must be fully vaccinated.
On November 4th, bars and similar establishments across LA County are required to verify the full vaccination of all guests and staff.
“Similar requirements come into effect on the same day [Nov. 4] in West Hollywood, ”said director Barbara Ferrer. “LA City Council will vote next week on an ordinance that extends vaccination verification requirements to additional indoor facilities in LA City, including fitness centers, personal care facilities, entertainment venues and restaurants.”
LA health and home workers were required to be fully vaccinated on September 30, and LA County workers were required to be fully vaccinated on October 1.
Culver City students must be vaccinated by November 19th and all LAUSD students 12 and older must be fully vaccinated by December 19th.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that California students will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to attend face-to-face classes once the U.S. Food and Drug Administration clears full approval of vaccinations for their age groups.
“We understand that the governor has indicated that the state is reviewing potential senior student vaccination regulations across the state that would of course apply in LA County,” Ferrer said. “There are also federal requirements, including President Biden’s Executive Order, which requires federal employees to be fully vaccinated by November 22nd by November 30th while we are through the next few months through support from organizations and institutions Provide a focus for our public health teams when it comes to vaccination compliance. “
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has repeatedly targeted vaccines and compared unvaccinated people with cigarette smokers. Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths from secondhand smoke. This is roughly one in five deaths per year, or 1,300 deaths per day.
“Immunization requirements are an important strategy in keeping people safe and they have a lot in common with many other public health measures used to protect people from harm,” said Ferrer. “One example that comes to mind is the rules we make for smoking around other people. Smoking is dangerous to the health of smokers as well as those around them who are exposed to secondhand smoke. And in many cases, without rules that prevent smoking in certain places, others would have no control over whether or not they were exposed to cigarette smoke. So we’ve put in place rules to protect everyone from secondhand smoke. California has banned smoking in most public places since 1998. Smoking is legal and people can still smoke, but we have agreed for decades that it is unacceptable for the risk that smokers run to be shared by others who happen to share their airspace with targeted vaccination requirements. “
Ferrer noted that while the risk of virus transmission cannot be reduced to zero, all efforts must be focused on reducing the risk to the lowest possible number.
“I can understand that vaccination regulations feel like a form of judgment or coercion, just as smoking bans can make a smoker angry,” she said. “I hope everyone can understand that this is not the intention. Unfortunately, unvaccinated people are more likely to become infected and spread the airborne virus. Most of the hospital admissions and deaths are among those who have not been vaccinated. The aim of these mandates is to reduce the risk in order to ensure the safety of everyone and at the same time proceed as quickly as possible until the end of the pandemic. “
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