Mayor calls for booster mandate
With the omicron variant fueling another dangerous surge of COVID-19 cases, the mayor of the nation’s 10th largest city wants to require employees and visitors of city-owned venues to show proof they got their booster shots before entering.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo announced a new plan on Dec. 21 that would make visitors prove they’ve received a booster shot in addition to the initial vaccine doses to enter cityowned facilities like the SAP center. For employees who work in those buildings, booster shots would be a condition of employment.
If the rest of the City Council endorses his proposal next month, San Jose could become the first city in California to enact such a mandate. Other cities across the country, including New York City and Boston, are considering similar proof-of-booster requirements.
The mayor’s announcement came a day after federal officials announced that omicron has become the dominant variant in new COVID cases in the United States. Medical experts say boosters are one of the most effective tools to prevent the spread of the rapidly spreading omicron variant, and the first available data for Moderna’s vaccine indicated it was effective.
“As far as I can tell, there is no reason why we should not move forward aggressively given what we know both about omicron and the importance of getting fully vaccinated, which I believe includes a booster shot,” Liccardo said during a news briefing.
San Jose currently requires attendees and staff of events with 50 or more people held at city facilities — such as the SAP center, Convention Center, Montgomery Theater, San Jose Civic and Center for Performing Arts — to show proof of full vaccination prior to entering. City employees are also required to be fully vaccinated unless they have a religious or medical exemption.
Under the mayor’s proposal, exemptions would be allowed for people who received their second dose of the vaccine within the last six months and children currently ineligible for shots. Liccardo said he would like to see both the employee booster mandate and the proof-of-vaccination requirement for public facilities put in place by the end of January.
City employees who fail to abide by the booster mandate would likely face disciplinary steps similar to those taken against workers who aren’t fully vaccinated and don’t have religious or medical exemptions. Those employees must serve the equivalent of a week-long unpaid suspension. As of Tuesday, only six employees had received notices of discipline for failing to adhere to the city policy.
Dr. George Rutherford, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California-San Francisco, said officials across the country need to follow Liccardo’s lead and “change the definition of fully vaccinated to include boosters.”
“We have to do whatever we can to encourage vaccinations first and foremost, but with this current variant, we need boosters and there are no ifs, ands or buts about that,” Rutherford said. “This is going to be a big challenge because it’s so much more transmissible, but the key is boosters.”
The first omicron variant case in the U.S. was reported on Dec. 1 in a San Francisco resident who had recently returned from South Africa.
Since then, omicron has quickly become the dominant coronavirus variant across the country, climbing from less than 13% of sequenced cases on Dec. 11 to more than 73% in just a week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday.
As of Dec. 16, Santa Clara County had confirmed 10 omicron cases but stressed that the variant was likely far more widespread.
Of the county’s 10 omicron cases, four individuals were unvaccinated, five were vaccinated with two doses and one had also received a booster, according to County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody. Most of the individuals were symptomatic but none needed hospitalization.
“Although preliminary data suggests (omicron) is less severe, there have been deaths in Britain,” Rutherford said. “This is not a free pass.”
In addition to getting a booster shot as soon as possible, Rutherford recommends that everyone stay vigilant about routine masking, COVID-19 testing, social distancing and avoiding indoor crowds.
The city-owned facilities where the booster mandate would apply include:
• SAP Center
• San Jose McEnery Convention Center
• San Jose Civic
• Center for Performing Arts
• California Theatre • Montgomery Theater • Hammer Theater
• San Jose Museum of Art
• The Tech Interactive • Mexican Heritage Plaza