Confronted with surging infections, California this week became the first state to mandate coronavirus vaccines or regular testing for state employees and health care workers. Starting next month, all public- and private-sector health care workers, along with some 246,000 state government employees, will have to show proof of vaccination. No state has vaccinated more people against Covid-19, but infections in California have risen sharply, largely because unvaccinated people are spreading the hypercontagious Delta variant. Most of the state’s labor groups and hospital systems have been publicly supportive of the new rules announced by Gov. Local 1000, which represents 96,000 state workers.

Source: International New York Times July 28, 2021 00:22 UTC