SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will require its health care workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday evening.
“With omicron on the rise, we’re taking immediate actions to protect Californians and ensure our hospitals are prepared,” Newsom wrote in a tweet.
California already required its health care workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus by September of this year. Newsom issued that requirement in August while the delta variant of COVID-19 was spreading through the state. The current requirement allows exemptions based on religion and medical issues.
Newsom will announce more details about the booster mandate at a news conference Wednesday morning in Alameda County.
California will be the second state to require its health workers to get boosters after New Mexico, his office said.
California’s rate of positive tests has started to tick up in the last week. The number of people in California hospitals has also been rising, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. The department said Tuesday that it has evidence that the omicron variant is spreading in all regions of California.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced the federal government would provide 500 million free rapid home-testing kits as part of a surge in support for the health care system as the omicron variant takes over as the primary strain of the disease spreading through the country. Omicron now accounts for nearly three-fourths of new infections in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Biden urged people to get their COVID-19 shots, including boosters.
“It’s the only responsible thing to do,” he said. “Omicron is serious and potentially deadly business for unvaccinated people.”
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(Lara Korte of The Sacramento Bee Capitol Bureau contributed to this report.)
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