The state of California on Monday announced that all 246,382 state employees will soon have to show proof COVID-19 vaccinations or submit to weekly testing, but LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said the County board hasn’t discussed a policy for the more than 112,000 county employees.
Mitchell, who represents the 2nd District, told KNX In Depth on Monday that she is pleased to see private businesses and school systems, such at USC and the University of California, require proof of vaccination without the County stepping in.
“I’m thrilled to see various levels … have all been very clear that in order to come back into the work space, people have to be vaccinated. I think that’s a good thing,” Mitchell told KNX.
COVID-19 cases continue to rise throughout LA County, as 2,089 cases were reported Sunday.
“The reality is that in LA County we’ve had 6 million people who have been vaccinated out of a population of 10 million. We know that we’re getting positive cases,” Mitchell said. “We’ve reached a pretty high daily rate of positive cases of about 2,000 cases a day and that’s a problem.”
While the Board of Supervisors haven’t moved towards examining proof of vaccination, Mitchell said she’s kept an eye on what other municipalities are doing.
“As a policymaker serving the county, I think a precedent has been set,” Mitchell said “I haven’t looked at any of the languages, but I’m sure there have to be carve-outs for people based on medical necessity.”
If the Board of Supervisors reaches the point of requiring proof of vaccination, Mitchell said she expected plenty of negative reaction.
“I think there’s going to be a huge pushback. We’re receiving pushback right now for mandatory masks for indoor spaces,” Mitchell said. “I am sure there will be a lot of people who express deep concerns.”
Neither Mitchell nor County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer are currently in favor of a vaccine mandate for county employees until after the Food and Drug Administration fully approves at least one vaccine.
“We have a long history in this country of mandating vaccines, particularly for children and at other times during pandemics or epidemics where we’ve had a lot of serious disease that’s been circulating,” Ferrer told KNX on Friday. “I agree that requiring vaccinations among some people is a place that we are all going to end up being once the FDA gives full approval.”
Mitchell said she was focused on addressing fears, rather than working toward a vaccine mandate.
“I know there are people concerned about when the FDA will make their final ruling on these vaccines,” she said. “I don’t ever think we can get past the point where we can answer people’s questions and we acknowledge that these are real fears.”
State and county health officials continue to maintain that the recent surge is due to a combination of the Delta variant and the increase of intermingling of unmasked people who may or may not be vaccinated. Mitchell reiterated that point Monday.
“We know that this current variant is more easily transmitted.
The primary solution to this for more people to get vaccinated,” she said.