Vaccination requirement for Sonoma County employees starts Tuesday
FILE - A person receives a bandage after their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a mobile vaccination clinic during a back-to-school event.
SONOMA, Calif. - Starting Tuesday, Sonoma County employees will need to show proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 vaccination or submit to weekly testing.
The mandate, approved Aug. 17 by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, applies to all 4,400 county employees.
Two weeks before that, the county's health officer Dr. Sundari Mase issued a health order that requires the county's fire, law enforcement and emergency medical service personnel to show proof of vaccination or undergo weekly testing.
Dr. Mase also recommended that all employers in Sonoma County adopt a similar policy for their workers.
"The safest workplace is a fully vaccinated workplace," Dr. Mase said last month. "Requiring employees to get vaccinated or submit to testing will increase our vaccination rate and give employees peace of mind when around their coworkers."
As of Friday, Sonoma County had 37,236 cases and 361 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.