Sonoma Co. mandates vaccines for emergency workers ahead of fire season
SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Like the rest of the country, Sonoma County is facing a fourth COVID surge. With COVID cases and hospitalizations rising, Sonoma County ordered a vaccine mandate for emergency personnel.
"The news today is not great," said Sonoma County Supervisor, Chris Coursey at a virtual press conference. "This isn't the same opponent that we were fighting in 2020. The Delta variant is highly contagious."
RELATED: Doctors in favor of requiring proof of vaccination to enter Bay Area businesses
Sonoma County chief epidemiologist, Kate Pack, showed a graph during the press conference that indicates unvaccinated people are testing positive at four and half times the rate of vaccinated people.
"This is reaching levels that we haven't seen since back in January," she said.
With that, Sonoma County expanded a California health order to include emergency personnel. In four weeks, by September 1st, all fire, law enforcement, emergency medical workers, and staff at disaster shelters must be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID testing.
VIDEO: Kaiser Permanente, others announce COVID-19 vaccine requirements
The new mandate though is not just about COVID case numbers. Right now, we are only at the beginning of what could be another very long fire season.
"Keeping the workforce healthy in the city limits is very important to make sure we have our full effective firefighting force available," said Santa Rosa Fire Chief, Scott Westrope.
Chief Westrope says 65-70% of their staff is vaccinated, which is not enough, especially as firefighters go out to large scale fires with camps.
RELATED: UCSF's top doctor says Bay Area 'should consider vaccine mandates' for certain businesses
"We've had 14 personnel at the Dixie Fire for two to three weeks, it's a huge camp, there's a lot of people around, and keeping them healthy in that environment, where it's a lot more people around and a much more congregate setting, is even more important so you don't bring something home to their co-workers, family, or a member of the community."
Santa Rosa Police Sgt Christopher Mahurin says 75-80% of their employees are vaccinated. "We lost someone in our agency to COVID and we don't want that to happen again, nor be responsible for that happening to anyone in our community."
He has a message for those who have not gotten the shot. "We got into this job to save lives and to protect our community and part of protecting our community is making sure that we aren't transmitting a virus that can be very severe."
Having trouble loading the tracker above? Click here to open it in a new window. RELATED STORIES & VIDEOS:
- Map shows which counties can, can't reopen under reopening tiers
- Cheat sheet: What you can and can't do after being fully vaccinated
- How to register for a COVID-19 vaccine in every Bay Area county
- Map shows everywhere you can get a COVID-19 test in the Bay Area
- Interactive map shows what's closed and what's reopening in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Data tracker: Coronavirus cases, deaths, hospitalizations in every Bay Area county
- Third stimulus check calculator: See how much you could get
- COVID-19 Diaries: Personal stories of Bay Area residents during pandemic
- Get the latest updates on California EDD, stimulus checks, unemployment benefits
- Coronavirus origin: Where did COVID-19 come from?
- What is a COVID-19 genetic, antigen and antibody test?
- What does COVID-19 do to your body and why does it spread so easily?
- Coronavirus Timeline: Tracking major moments of COVID-19 pandemic in San Francisco Bay Area
- Coronavirus Doctor's Note: Dr. Alok Patel gives his insight into COVID-19 pandemic
