Santa Clara County to Require COVID Boosters for Health Care Workers, Sooner Than State

Santa Clara County will require health care workers in high-risk settings to get COVID-19 boosters, and to get them sooner than a statewide mandate issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week, officials announced Tuesday.

Last week, Newsom announced that nearly all of California’s roughly 2.5 million frontline health care workers must receive a COVID-19 booster shot by Feb. 1. Santa Clara County’s order goes into effect on Jan. 24, and will apply to more workers than the state’s.

At the Tuesday press conference, Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Sara Cody said a surge in omicron variant infections drove the decision to order the mandate.

“Since the last time we spoke, which was just less than two weeks ago, I warned of a deluge of omicron,” Cody said. “Today, unfortunately, that deluge is here.”

COVID-19 cases among the unvaccinated are higher now in Santa Clara County than last August’s surge. While 81% of county residents are vaccinated, and 52% have gotten a booster dose, Cody said the high spread of omicron meant a possibility for hospitals here to become overwhelmed soon — making even the “breakthrough” cases in vaccinated people a problem for hospitals.

“Even if a small portion ends up needing a hospital bed, it could still end up being a lot of people, because the portion of cases is quite large,” Cody said.

The order, she added, is “to protect our health care system.”

Both the state’s and the county’s orders apply to workers at hospitals and doctor’s offices, home health workers and those working in high-risk congregate settings including nursing facilities, hospice centers and dialysis centers.

But Santa Clara County’s order “applies to a slightly broader set of workers,” said County Counsel for Santa Clara County James Williams, “namely medical first responders, such as paramedics and EMTs, those working in shelters, and non-health care staff in jails and correctional settings.” It also will not allow unvaccinated or unboosted people to get tested as a way to satisfy the requirement.

Instead, those workers without a booster, including medical and correctional first responders, will be reassigned to jobs within their organizations that the county doesn’t consider having high-risk settings, such as where air is shared with high-risk clients, and jails, said Williams.

“Boosters are absolutely critical, given what we’re facing right now,” he said.

The mandate came alongside recommendations Cody announced for Santa Clara County, including that businesses and other governmental entities implement vaccine and booster requirements for their workers. She also strongly recommended restaurants and bars require booster shots for workers and patrons.

When asked why the recommendation for restaurants and bars was not a mandate, Cody said, “Our feeling is that it’s extremely important, but we’re not taking that final step of mandating it. Our businesses have been incredibly responsible, responsive and safe with their patrons.”

She did, however, say the best way to patronize your favorite restaurants now is by ordering takeout or delivery and “tipping a lot, to support them,” but that gathering indoors without a mask is “not the safest way to be right now, with omicron spiking as it is.”

In Oakland last week, at the announcement of the statewide booster mandate for health care workers, Newsom said the mandate was imperative to preventing further health care staffing shortages due to illness.

“We recognize now just being fully vaccinated is not enough with this new variant,” Newsom said, noting that “well north of 50%” of new cases in California are the omicron variant — now the dominant variant in the country. “We believe it’s important to extend this requirement to getting that third dose, to getting boosted,” he added. “I think it is a smart move, a wise move in this context that we need to make sure we don’t have staffing shortages.”

California already requires health care workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, a directive that took effect in September, and one that most workers have complied with. Thousands of people who have not complied, though, have either lost their jobs or been suspended, sparking concerns that the newest rule could further exacerbate staffing shortages.

The California Hospital Association was quick to back the order, with California Hospital Association President and CEO Carmela Coyle saying, in a statement, that boosters are “vital to ensuring care for all in need as California and the nation as a whole continue to face a persistent shortage of health care workers.”

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations have been rising slowly in California. As of Tuesday, there were 4,747 coronavirus patients hospitalized across the state, indicating an increase since Dec. 1. But that’s far less than the peak of last winter’s surge, when the state had nearly 22,000 coronavirus patients before vaccines were widely available. Now, more than 70% of the state’s nearly 40 million residents have been fully vaccinated.

But while hospitals overall have fewer patients than last winter, many have fewer workers to treat the patients they do have. The staffing shortage comes as businesses, including hospitals, are having trouble finding workers. A recent UCSF study estimated the state’s nursing shortage could persist until 2026.

Kiyomi Burchill, group vice president for policy for the California Hospital Association, said in an interview Tuesday before Newsom made his announcement, “The staffing shortages we are experiencing are worse than ever.”

This post includes reporting from KQED’s Spencer Whitney and Matthew Green, as well as Adam Beam of The Associated Press.