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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – San Francisco will now require law enforcement in some settings and others in high-risk workplaces to receive a coronavirus booster by February 1, the city said on Wednesday , while the omicron variant is wreaking havoc across the country.
The move comes more than a week after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state would need California’s estimated 2.5 million healthcare workers. to receive their booster shots by February 1 or risk losing their job.
The San Francisco requirements – which also include healthcare workers – list occupations that are not part of the state’s order. Sanitary changes affect both the city and county of San Francisco.
The health ordinance now includes recall requirements for people working in high-risk settings, including adult care facilities, adult day programs, dental offices, home health workers and pharmacists, as well as workers who visit these settings, such as police officers, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and lawyers whose clients are in jail.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has also joined with other Bay Area counties in revoking exemptions to hide warrants for fully vaccinated people in offices and gyms. Starting at 12:01 p.m. Thursday, everyone must be masked indoors in non-household conditions.
San Francisco will also require attendees and staff at indoor mega-events to receive their booster shots starting February 1.
COVID-19 case rates have exploded nationwide in recent weeks, setting new records across the country. California was first state to reach 5 million confirmed cases, according to state data released Tuesday. In San Francisco, the seven-day average case rate was 398 on Dec.31, exceeding the maximum average of the delta rise.
The language of the 42-page San Francisco Health Order is vague and has already created confusion among first responders in the region, who have strongly opposed the initial vaccine requirements. It was also not immediately clear whether the recall requirements also applied to firefighters, who are also paramedics or paramedics. The San Francisco Fire Union did not immediately return a request for comment.
The mayor’s office and the public health department did not immediately provide clarifications to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The order says that recalls are required by February 1 for workers such as paramedics, paramedics, police and other law enforcement officers, and lawyers who visit prisons, even if they are. they are not stationed permanently or regularly assigned to high risk environments “but who in the performance of their duties may enter or work in (high risk environments) even intermittently or occasionally or for short periods.”
The ordinance defines high-risk environments as places of care or living involving many people, including general acute care hospitals, qualified nursing establishments, intermediate care establishments, residential care establishments for the elderly, homeless shelters, prisons and juvenile justice centers.
“Working together on the most effective strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID actually requires the city to pick up the phone or meet with its employees before unilaterally declaring edicts or rushing to hit the panic button,†Tony Montoya, president of the San Francisco Police Department. Association of Officers, said in a statement. “It is unfortunate that 40 pages of medical jargon are emailed to us without considering the many questions our members may have. We expect better from our municipal leaders and the public should do the same. “
Californian models predict gradual increases in hospitalizations and intensive care admissions over the next month, although the website warns that “these new details on the Omicron variant may increase the uncertainty of the predictions.”
The state is expected to have about 6,100 hospital patients by the end of January, compared to less than 4,400 currently. There are expected to be another 400 intensive care patients, about 1,400, down from about 1,000 now.
That’s a far cry from the nearly 22,000 peak hospitalizations and nearly 5,000 intensive care patients last January.
But the R-effective which measures infection rates is again above 1 statewide and in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California areas. It remains below 1 in the Greater Sacramento, Northern California, and San Joaquin Valley areas. Anything above 1 means that the number of people infected will increase.
In Los Angeles County, public health officials on Wednesday reported 16,510 new cases – one of the highest daily numbers in the pandemic.
Also on Wednesday, United States Representative Doris Matsui announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19 in a groundbreaking case. The MP received her recall in September and said she was experiencing mild cold-like symptoms.
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