A county health order requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccines for all customers and employees of bars, clubs, lounges, breweries and wine bars comes into effect on Thursday, Oct. 7. Also beginning Thursday, anyone planning to attend an outdoor “mega-event” (of more than 10,000 people) must show proof of vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test.
The order, issued last month, does not require patrons of outdoor bar seating areas to show proof of vaccination. It also does not require vaccinations to patronize bars attached to restaurants. Those entering bars to pick up to-go orders also do not need to show proof of vaccinations; however, LA County’s indoor mask mandate remained in effect for everyone not actively eating or drinking indoors at bars and restaurants.
Friday, Sept. 30, was the deadline for healthcare and homecare workers in LA County to be fully vaccinated. L.A. County employees, including members of the LA County Sheriff’s Department, had until Oct. 1. Already, some sheriff’s department officers have filed suit against the county to fight the mandate; it was not clear how many employees of the county’s 110,000-member workforce remained unvaccinated as of Oct. 5.
On Oct. 15, all employees of K-12 schools statewide must be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly testing (Malibu and Santa Monica schools already have a regimen of weekly tests).
Just days after the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education voted, 6-1, to pursue a vaccine mandate for Malibu students, Governor Newsom announced he intended all students and staff at K-12 schools to be fully vaccinated in order to attend in-person classes. Newsom’s plan would go into effect following full FDA approval for children to receive the vaccines, “beginning with students in grades seven through 12, followed by students in grades K through six,” according to the LA County Department of Public Health. “Depending on the timing of approvals, this likely means the requirement will go into effect beginning either Jan. 1 or July 1 of 2022.”
Further on the horizon, all federal workers are required to be vaccinated by Nov. 22, following an order from President Joe Biden.