The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously ratified an emergency order Tuesday requiring all county employees – more than 110,000 people – to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination by Oct. 1, but left open. the possibility of exemptions and tests in lieu of vaccinations for some employees.
Supervisor Hilda Solís issued the mandate by executive order on August 4 strictly asking for vaccination.
“Those who remain unvaccinated are vulnerable,” Solís told his colleagues. “Millions of people still hesitate and completely refuse to do their part. … I don’t think we can wait any longer ”.
Los Angeles County officials will consider writing a proposal Tuesday that would require proof of vaccination to enter certain indoor public spaces.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell was very supportive and cautioned against offering the option of regular testing instead of full vaccination.
“While it may be tempting to provide more flexibility so that people don’t get vaccinated and get tested, this would only delay the inevitable,” Mitchell said. “ The financial and logistical cost, as well as the human lives that could be lost, (of) allowing people to opt out of vaccinations and get tested would be immense. ”
Mitchell alluded to comments by some workers that the mandate is immoral and amounts to human experimentation.
“I’m sorry that some county employees feel that we do not take their best interests seriously. This couldn’t be further from the truth, ” Mitchell said. “We are challenged to follow the science.”
Some union leaders rejected the idea of a blanket mandate.
Tab Rhodes, president of the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association, said his union could not support the plan, saying it was too restrictive and would actually work against the goal of getting back to normality in safe way.
“Many of our members have already been vaccinated or, as first aid professionals, suffered the effects of COVID-19, presumably now they have antibodies against future infections. Others have strong feelings regarding the vaccine and its lack of FDA approval, ” Rhodes said, urging a thorough review of a separate motion from Supervisors Janice Hahn and Sheila Kuehl.
The sale of falsified vaccination cards is skyrocketing and fear grows in educational centers, where young people could be taking them to enter the classrooms. The authorities intend to combat this crime.
That motion recommended that the CEO’s office develop a detailed plan for implementation and suggested that the final policy could allow testing as an alternative.
“Our members would find the integrated options of getting a vaccine and / or weekly testing to be more beneficial, collaborative, and have an individual level of compliance, which is the ultimate goal,” said Rhodes.
The Hahn / Kuehl motion, which also passed unanimously, also directed the CEO to consider whether county contractors should be bound by the mandate.
County Executive Director Fesia Davenport pointed out other tough issues that have yet to be resolved, including how to handle employees who simply refuse to get vaccinated.
“We know that we will have to make some exemptions that are required by law,” Davenport said. “At the end of the day, the overall goal is to achieve the mandate of politics.”
Kuehl said he would like the county to immediately start tracking which employees were vaccinated and allow testing between now and the Oct. 1 deadline, but limit testing after that date to a small number of exempt employees.
“The tighter the better after October 1,” Kuehl said.
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