Proposed vaccine verification bill on ice

A proposed statewide California vaccine verification law won’t happen this year.

As proposed, the bill would require that all public and private employers require that all employees who are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine show proof of vaccination or take a weekly COVID-19 test.

Last week, the lawmakers were working on a much broader mandate that would have required people to prove their were inoculated before going inside restaurants, gyms, bars, theaters and other places, which would have been among the most sweeping in the country. Earlier this month, San Francisco became the first

major U.S. city to adopt such a rule.

But Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks’ office said Monday that part of the plan had been dropped. Wicks, D-oakland, who is leading a coalition of lawmakers pushing for the legislation, said Monday that she will hold her bill from moving forward in the legislature until next year to allow more time to create the strongest policy possible and additional collaboration.

“Every day, thousands of Californians are newly affected by this virus — and we have a collective responsibility to do all we can to protect each and every one of them,” Wicks said in a statement. “We’ve made significant progress over the past couple weeks, and I’m hopeful that this conversation will ultimately lead to an increase in vaccination rates, and a decrease in COVID deaths and ICU stays. … I’m committed to working with my colleagues and key stakeholders to make this the strongest bill possible headed into 2022.”

The proposed legislation was to be packaged into a bill, AB 455, originally drafted to create bus-only lanes on the San Franciscooakland Bay Bridge.

California and many local governments and private employers already require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test from their workers. The state also has mandated that people in certain professions, such as health care workers, be vaccinated, and on Sept. 20 will require vaccine proof or a negative COVID-19 test for large indoor events such as concerts.