Supervisors to consider vaccine requirement
L.A. County: Board expressed the need for such a move as the delta variant becomes a ‘game-changer’
The Board of Supervisors appeared poised to consider requiring the LosAngeles County government’s more than 100,000 employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, its urgency fueled by other similar state and local requirements.
The possibility for such a requirement emerged during a robust update on Tuesday from LosAngeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer in front of the board.
The pandemic’s delta variant, Ferrer said, is seeing substantial spikes among people who are unvaccinated. Outbreaks at businesses and vaccine resistance, she added, are undermining the region’s recovery and hitting a cluster of neighborhoods particularly hard.
According to state numbers released Tuesday, there were 891 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 in the county, up from 825 the previous day. That’s the highest number since March 13, and more than double the
number from July 12, when the county reported 372 people hospitalized. There were 195 people in intensive care, up from 182 reported on Monday, according to the state.
The numbers, while increasing, are still well below the more than 8,000people hospitalized during the winter surge.
The county reported another 2,067 COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, lifting the cumulative county total from throughout the pandemic to 1,287,831.
Another 15 deaths due to COVID-19 were also reported, raising the county’s death toll to 24,643. testing positive for coronavirus jumped last week to 33, a significant upswing in cases as the department continues to struggle getting its workforce vaccinated.
“I was shocked to hear that our public safety officers at the sheriff department and the fire department were not a 100% vaccinated. I don’t get that at all,” Kuehl said.