A legislative vaccine working group has introduced a raft of California bills that would tighten rules around vaccine information, and install vaccine requirements in schools and workplaces if passed.
Seven lawmakers announced they created a vaccine working group Jan. 19, and have been introducing bills since.
Assemblymember. Buffy Wicks (D-Berkeley), introduced a bill Feb. 10 that would require all public and private employers, with some exceptions, to verify their employees’ vaccinations by Jan. 1.
The bill would allow medical, disability and religious exemptions.
The bill specifies employers would have to verify their employees have received vaccinations, and Erin Ivie, Wicks’ director of communication, elaborated by email Jan. 15: “AB 1993 requires new hires to have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before their start date, and the second dose within 45 days. For existing employees, an employer would have to verify full vaccination status (defined by the CDC) by Jan. 1.”
The assemblymember will consider more clarity in the language as the bill moves through legislation, Ivie added.
The penalty for employers who do not verify their employees’ vaccinations has not yet been decided.
The proposed law would be inoperative after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices determines the vaccinations are “no longer necessary for the health and safety of individuals.”
Wicks’ bill follows the Supreme Court’s blocking of President Joe Biden’s nationwide vaccine mandate for large employers. A statement from Wicks’ office claims the decision left vaccine mandates to the state level.
“People have experienced so much whiplash over the past couple years when it comes to ever-changing guidelines in the workplace. Workers are craving stability, and vaccines are the key to making that happen,” Wicks said in a statement.
Other recent bills
On Feb. 14 Assemblymember Evan Low (D-San Jose), also in the group, introduced AB 2098, which would make the promotion of coronavirus disinformation grounds for a disciplinary action from the Medical Board of California.
This follows Assemblymember Akilah Weber‘s Feb. 7 introduction of a bare-bones AB 1797, which would state that the Legislature intends to enact legislation relating to an immunization registry.
Last month, on the 20th, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 866, which would allow a minor 12 years or older to receive a vaccine without parental approval.
Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) on Jan. 24 introduced SB 871, which would require students to have a coronavirus vaccine prior to enrollment in a public or private elementary or secondary school, adding the disease to the 10 other diseases like measles, mumps and tetanus that are currently required.
