Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that California will require healthcare workers to get Covid vaccine booster shots, part of a broader plan to combat the recent surge in coronavirus cases.
“With Omicron on the rise, we’re taking immediate actions to protect Californians and ensure our hospitals are prepared,” the Democratic governor tweeted, adding that he would provide details of the overall strategy on Wednesday.
The move means California will become the second state in the country to mandate booster shots for healthcare workers. New Mexico issued a similar order earlier this month, requiring workers in that sector get a booster dose no later than Jan. 17.
Many states have required healthcare workers to get vaccinated, but New Mexico was the first to mandate booster shots.
A federal appeals court last week revived the Biden administration’s vaccine requirement for healthcare workers employed by facilities that receive federal funding. But the administration’s rule is still on hold in about half the states due to a legal challenge.
California had the first confirmed U.S. case of the highly contagious omicron variant at the beginning of December. The Centers for Disease Control Prevention said at the time that the individual “was a traveler who returned from South Africa” on Nov. 22.
Since then, the variant has spread quickly across the country. It accounted for more than 73 percent of new cases as of Friday, according to the CDC.
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President Joe Biden announced earlier Tuesday that the federal government would be setting up new testing sites nationwide, along with plans to ship as many as 500 million at-home test kits starting next month.
He also urged people to get booster shots if they’re eligible, warning that those who have not been vaccinated face an ongoing risk of severe illness.
“If you’re not fully vaccinated, you have good reason to be concerned” about the new variant, Biden said in an address from the White House. “You’re at a high risk of getting sick. And if you get sick, you’re likely to spread it to others, including friends and family.”
But, he added, “if you’re among the majority of Americans who are fully vaccinated, and especially if you’ve gotten the booster shot, that third shot, you have much, much less reason to worry. You have a high degree of protection against severe illness.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
