by Julie Watts at CBS Local New in Sacramento
State workers and health care employees will now be required to show proof of vaccine or get tested for COVID at least once a week.
The governor announced the new guidance today and is urging private employers to “replicate the example.”
This comes as the highly contagious Delta variant is now dominant in the state and COVID rates have skyrocketed in the month since California officially reopened, including breakthrough cases among vaccinated Californians.
A new analysis finds several counties with above-average vaccination rates also have higher COVID case rates, while case rates are falling in counties with below-average vaccination rates.
Statewide data analyzed by the Bay Area News Group found five counties, Los Angeles, San Diego, Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco, have both a higher percentage of people who are fully vaccinated than the state average and a higher average daily case rate.
Compare that to these five counties: Modoc, Glenn, Lassen, Del Norte, and San Benito, which have below-average vaccination rates and decreasing case rates.
However, UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Phillip Norris clarifies that the data doesn’t mean the vaccine is not working.
He notes, first, the counties referenced with higher vaccination and case rates are more densely populated.
“If there are a lot of people around you’re more likely to bump into one who has COVID,” Norris explained.
He, like other infectious disease experts, warns that vaccinated people may be unknowingly spreading the virus.
Julie: A lot of people think if they’re vaccinated, they can’t transmit. Is that true?
Phillip: So, originally we thought that might be true…
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