Following the release of a report from the County’s Department of Public Health and other agencies, City Attorney Mike Feuer has renewed his call for a County-wide vaccination mandate, requiring proof of vaccinations for an array of indoor activities, including patronizing restaurants and bars, working out in gyms and attending live events.
While the City of Los Angeles is also exploring a mandate, the County’s own report on the matter states that a vaccination requirement for certain indoor settings will be most effective as a tool if it is County-wide.
“Requiring proof of vaccination for these popular, but optional, activities could incentivize reluctant residents finally to get shots,” Feuer’s letter states. It goes on to say, “this requirement could spur economic development by leading fully-vaccinated residents to feel safer in locations where they know everyone has received the shots.”
On Aug. 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer vaccine, which makes a vaccination mandate all the more compelling. Only 64 percent of L.A. County residents are fully vaccinated.
Last weekend, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recorded 2,232 new COVID infections and five new deaths, bringing the total number of local deaths to 25,245 since the pandemic began. The current surge of infections and hospitalizations are due to the highly contagious Delta variant.
In his letter to the County Board of Supervisors, Feuer wrote “Please act swiftly. Enacting this rule now, then allowing for a brief period before it would take full effect, would allow unvaccinated residents to get shots, businesses to become educated on the new rule, and the county to develop protocols for enforcement.”
