Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo has called on all 88 cities in Los Angeles County to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for municipal workers.
His Thursday call followed the establishment of Pasadena’s own vaccination requirement and reinstatement of its indoor mask mandate. Is unclear exactly when the vaccination policy will come into effect. The city’s human resources department is working with the city attorney to develop an official policy, according to Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian.
“A mandatory policy is the right thing to do to protect employees who at times spend more hours at work then home,” she said in a statement.
Gordo said the policy would employees and the public because receiving public services often means interacting with city employees.
“The public cannot make a determination to go to one company or the other when it's looking for public services from a local government,” said Gordo.
There's one choice and one choice only to call when you call a police officer, when you call the fire department.”
Gordo said he wants to keep the public safe while the government does its job.
“We have a responsibility as a local government to ensure those services are provided in the safest way possible,” he said.
City Manager Steven Mermell made the decision to develop a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for Pasadena earlier in the week after an outbreak of coronavirus cases among employees. It is the first city in Southern California to mandate vaccinations for city workers.
“We want city employees to be healthy. We want the public to not get ill,” he said.
Public health officials and scientists are urging everyone in Los Angeles County to get vaccinated, not just city employees.
“Each person who gets vaccinated is slowing the development of new variants,” Pasadena Public Health Director Dr. Ying-Ying Goh told the City Council, according to Pasadena Now.
“Studies show that vaccines protect against the virus, including the variant.”
Gordo’s call comes at a time when the Delta variant of the virus is spreading rapidly, largely among the unvaccinated.