Big COVID changes could land today in California
As soon as today, the Newsom administration could unveil a key prong of its strategy for treating COVID as an endemic virus.
This article, written by CalMatters College Journalism Network Fellow Emily Hoeven, is available for republication. Donate to CalMatters here.
Alisson Argueta, 8, is given a COVID-19 test at a back-to-school clinic in South Gate, Los Angeles on August 12, 2021. (Lucy Nichols / Reuters)
As the omicron wave recedes, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers’ plans for dealing with COVID-19 appear to be on a collision course.
On the one hand, Newsom’s administration as soon as today could unveil portions of its strategy for treating COVID like any other virus, including by possibly lifting the statewide school mask mandate.
Newsom in a Friday interview with NBC Bay Area: “We are in the process of transforming our public education system and moving out of this pandemic mindset. And that includes the masks — and that will happen. Question is when.”
The governor last week also suggested that he would be ready to roll back the mandate if it weren’t for teachers unions: “They just asked for a little bit more time, and I think that’s responsible, and I respect that. But we are also in a date with destiny,” Newsom said.
Still, pressure is mounting on the governor to make an announcement — and fast. California’s statewide mask mandate for indoor businesses is set to expire for vaccinated residents after Tuesday — a milestone that will make schools’ strict face covering requirements stand out in even starker relief.
Democratic lawmakers, on the other hand, are doubling down on COVID mandates.
Assemblymember Buffy Wicks of Oakland unveiled a sweeping proposal Friday that would require all businesses — regardless of size — to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for all employees and independent contractors, except those who qualify for medical or religious exemptions considered valid by state regulators. Noncompliant businesses would face unspecified financial penalties.
Wicks: “The pathway to endemic, for us to get back to some sense of normalcy, is through vaccines.”
Wicks also said lawmakers are considering introducing vaccine-related legislation for people entering businesses.
Wicks’ bill is the latest to emerge from a vaccine work group of Democratic lawmakers. The group has also proposed requiring the COVID vaccine for all students except those granted rare medical exemptions, allowing kids 12 and older to get vaccinated without parental consent, and permitting schools to check students’ vaccination status in the state’s private immunization database.
Should those bills pass the state Legislature, it would be up to Newsom — who appears reluctant to impose more mandates on Californians — to decide whether to sign them into law.
Newsom: “The Legislature is adjudicating their approach to it, and we’ll see where we land on that over the course of the next few months.”
The coronavirus bottom line: As of Saturday, California had 8,204,171 confirmed cases (+0.3% from previous day) and 81,437 deaths (+0.4% from previous day), according to state data. CalMatters is also tracking coronavirus hospitalizations by county.
California has administered 70,537,667 vaccine doses, and 73.7% of eligible Californians are fully vaccinated.