California healthcare worker vaccine mandate goes into effect

Starting Thursday, healthcare workers across California must now be fully vaccinated in order to keep their jobs.

The state-wide mandate was announced in August giving certain healthcare workers until September 30 to be fully vaccinated.

California was the first in the nation to issue an order like this one. 

Workers in certain health care settings must have received their fist dose of a one dose vaccine, or the second dose of a two dose vaccine by today.

The only way to be exempt from this is by having a medical or religious reason. This group must still submit to routine testing requirements.

This order includes physicians, nurses, technicians, janitors, and other workers in hospitals, dialysis centers, doctor’s offices, nursing homes, and substance abuse centers to name a few.

On Tuesday state health officials issued a new order that extended the mandate to in home, hospice, disability center and senior center health care workers. These workers have until November 30 to comply.

The state’s deadline comes just as the federal government authorized Pfizer foster shots for those who work in high risk settings, including health care workers.

However, with booster shots now going into people’s arms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has indicated it would not yet change the definition of fully vaccinated to include three shots instead of two.