California health care workers must be boosted, kids to receive rapid tests

OAKLAND, Calif. - All California health care workers are now required to get a booster shot and public school students will receive rapid COVID tests as they return to school from winter break.

Speaking at the Native American Health Center in Oakland on Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced several new actions to protect against the rapid spread of the omicron vaiant. 

Newsom said that the health care workers and those who work in high-risk congregate settings will need to be boosted by Feb. 1, 2022, and be tested twice weekly in the interim if they are not boosted. 

"I think it is a smart move," Newsom said. "We need to make sure that we don't have staffing shortages. We need to keep all of you healthy and safe. The best way to do that is get boosted."

The state has already contracted with an extra 1,700 front line workers and an additional 500 coming to California in preparation for a potential surge.

As people travel and gather for the holidays, Newsom said testing is imperative to prevent and control the spread.

Just moments after he gave himself his own rapid antigen test, Newsom said California will provide up to two rapid tests for every K-12 public school student as children head back to the classroom from winter break. 

He said the state was ordering 6 million COVID-19 rapid tests specifically for students to use, but was not specific about how those tests would be distributed. 

"We want to make sure they come back in as good of shape as they have left," Newsom said. "I do not want to see our schools shut down." 

In a joint statement with education unions and school associations released Wednesday, there was a renewed commitment to keep in-person learning happening.

"Across California, school communities – students, parents, teachers, staff, administrators and board members together – have worked tirelessly to keep schools both safe and in-person," the statement read. "California schools have been open because of, not despite of, our priority on safety. As we approach the new year, we reaffirm our shared commitment to one another, to our parents and to our students: to keep each other safe and to keep our classrooms open." 

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Newsom also said the state will expand testing site hours for state-operated centers that have reached capacity in order to provide greater access.

California already required health care workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, a directive that took effect in September and has since led to the firing or suspension of thousands of people. Now it will join New Mexico as at least the second state to require booster shots for health care workers.

Last week, Newsom, who imposed the first statewide shutdown order in March 2020, warned that cases would likely rise and re-imposed a rule requiring everyone to wear masks at public indoor gatherings.

Concerns stem from the rise of omicron, which as of Monday was the dominant variant of the coronavirus in the United States. Areas in the Midwest and Northeast are seeing the biggest jump in cases and hospitalizations amid frigid temperatures that have kept people indoors.

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Much about the variant remains unknown, including whether it causes more or less severe illness. Scientists say omicron spreads more easily than other coronavirus strains, including delta. Early studies suggest the vaccinated will need a third shot for the best chance at preventing infection but even without the extra dose, vaccination still should offer strong protection against severe illness and death.

California has so far fared better than many other states. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists California as a place with "high" transmission of the virus, along with nearly everywhere else in the country. But in the last week California averaged 114 new cases per 100,000 people, less than half the national rate.

While 70% of Californians have been fully vaccinated, that still leaves 30% — or roughly 12 million people — who haven’t been. The California Department of Public Health says people who are not vaccinated are seven times more likely to get infected, nearly 13 times more likely to be hospitalized and nearly 16 times more likely to die from the coronavirus.

Coronavirus related hospitalizations have been rising slowly in California, up 15% in the last 11 days to 3,852. That’s less than half as many as during the late summer peak and one-fifth of a year ago, before vaccines were widely available.

Still, relatively, the Golden State is in a better spot than it was during the height of the pandemic, but politicians noted that the public still could do better. 

"California is doing great," said state Sen. Nancy Skinner at the news conference. "We're doing great because we have great vaccination rates, but we want to top everybody and get it completely vaccinated. Everybody boosted."

"The booster is a game-changer," Newsom said. "That third dose is needed."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.