If Los Angeles County imposes a vaccine mandate, there should be quick results, according to a UC San Francisco doctor.
Faced with the reality that they might soon be shut out of public venues and even county employment, infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong at UC San Francisco told KNX many unvaccinated people may finally be spurred to get the jab.
“We know that in France after they issued a similar mandate for restaurants that a million people from France got vaccinated on the first day and millions afterward, so I think we’re hoping for that,” he said.
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council President Nury Martinez already announced last week that city employees will need to show proof of vaccination or weekly negative COVID-19 tests. A number of businesses and local governments have adopted similar policies for their employees, including L.A. County.
However, city leaders have already moved toward a broader mandate. Martinez introduced a motion Wednesday that would require eligible individuals to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination before entering indoor venues in the city. An indoor venue includes restaurants, bars and retail spaces.
Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas expressed his support for the motion on social media. He said, "It’s time to act. Plain and simple - vaccinations are the only way out of this pandemic and we must work together to get it done."
The question now is if the county will once again follow the city’s lead.
Chin-Hong said that back-to-school is the perfect time for a mandate to come down because children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the adults around them are.
“The best thing that people can do to protect kids is to form a wall of immunity bodyguards around the kids,” said Chin-Hong.
He expects many business owners will welcome a vaccine mandate as a means of bringing back customers who're starting to stay home again because of the Delta variant.
Since L.A. already has a mask mandate, a vaccine requirement makes sense, according to Chin-Hong.
“A vaccine is probably worth a hundred masks, but, at the end of the day, you need both while you’re surging. Then, when you’re over the peak you can rely on vaccines alone.”
