California to require COVID-19 booster shot for health care employees

San Francisco, California – Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that health care workers would be required to receive a COVID-19 booster shot in order to minimize and prevent the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

Newsom tweeted that the state will take “immediate actions to protect Californians and ensure our hospitals are prepared.”

In August, state health officials said that health-care employees must be fully immunized by the end of September.

Officials with the California Department of Public Health stated at the time that the mandate was important since the majority of COVID-19 instances were caused by individuals who had not been vaccinated.

Despite the fact that unvaccinated people continue to test positive for the virus at a higher rate than fully vaccinated people, health officials recently urged that vaccinated people would need an extra vaccine dose to be protected from the omicron variant.

Vaccination requirements for K-12 teachers and state employees have also been imposed by the state.

Newsom is scheduled to make the formal announcement at a vaccination and testing clinic in Alameda County on Wednesday.