Pasadena is joining Los Angeles County by bringing back a mask mandate for indoor public spaces. The mask mandate goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, following a new health order from Health Officer Dr. Ying-Ying Goh.
City officials said if someone is not actively eating or drinking, they need to wear a mask. The mandate applies to everyone, regardless of vaccination status.
The city clarified that private gatherings are not subject to the mask mandate. There has also been no change to capacity restrictions.
The city is also going one step further by requiring that city employees be vaccinated.
Pasadena City Manager Steven Mermell said he asked the human resources department on Monday to develop a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for city employees. The decision comes as health officials say cases in LA County are increasing at a "disturbingly fast" rate.
The policy will be similar to one already in effect in San Francisco, according to Marmell.
“We want city employees to be healthy. We want the public to not get ill,” he said.
Marmell said his decision was also informed by the news of an outbreak of coronavirus cases among city employees.
Sixty percent of the city’s more than 2,000 employees have self-attested to receiving at least one shot of the vaccine. "But we need to get to a higher number," said 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. The policy will be effective when there is official FDA approval for the vaccines,” she said in a statement.
“The City of Pasadena would be the first to initiate this policy in Southern California.”
In San Francisco, employees who do not comply with the new rule could be disciplined, even fired. However, there is an exemption for medical conditions and religious beliefs.
It is not yet known how Pasadena will deal with non-complaint employees, nor if they will be on a timeline to get vaccinated.
Health experts predict that COVID-19 vaccine mandates will increase once the Food and Drug Administration grants full approval to one or more of the shots.