The full reopening of Los Angeles County took a step backward Thursday with the reinstatement of an indoor mask mandate regardless of vaccination status. Some say it's time to take the controversial action of restricting privileges based on whether a person has received their jab.
Vaccinated people stop having to pay a price because of people who refuse to get jabbed, according to Dr. David Agus, a professor at USC's Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine.
“Start to give differential privileges, that’s decidedly unpopular for politicians, but unfortunately it’s the only thing that can be done now. Or else, we’re going to have to close down again," said Agus.
He told KNX that while such a move may not be popular, it would be legal.
“There’s no constitutional issue here. It’s already been said that you can restrict behaviors based on vaccine status because you can harm others,” said Agus.
“You can't smoke in a restaurant because you can harm others, yet you can go in and potentially spread the virus to others.”
Agus said it’s time to start having the discussion over placing restrictions on the unvaccinated. Even though LA County eased its masking guidelines prior to Thursday, those that were unvaccinated were always required to mask indoors. Enforcement was carried out by the honor system. Those like Agus are calling for more institutionalized restrictions on what those who chose not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine can do.
The University of California has already announced a vaccine requirement. The school system said Thursday that COVID-19 vaccinations will be required for all students, faculty and staff ahead of the Fall term, essentially barring the unvaccinated from attending. However, there are exceptions on medical, religious and disability grounds.
Schools within the university system will require proof of vaccination, perhaps providing an example for how vaccination-status-related rules would be applied. New York state already allows residents to prove that they've received their vaccines with a digital Excelsior Pass. However, it should be noted that participation in the Excelsior Pass is voluntary.
Agus said he is astonished that LA County can't get above a 50 percent vaccination rate for the total population, since the shots are proven to be safe and will virtually guarantee that you avoid a COVID-related hospitalization.
Agus isn't alone. LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl told KNX that she’s “befuddled” as to why some residents are still unvaccinated.
“Half the people in LA county have gotten the vaccine,” Kuehl said. “All the people dying, all the people going into hospitals and 99.9% of the people testing positive are unvaccinated.”
According to the most recent data from the Department of Public Health, 69 percent of residents age 16 and older have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 61 percent are fully vaccinated.