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VOL. 10, NO. 43
LA County Sheriff Villanueva says over 4K employees face termination due to COVID vaccine mandate By City News Service
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heriff Alex Villanueva continued Tuesday to assail Los Angeles County's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, claiming more than 4,000 sheriff's department employees are facing possible termination, the vast majority of them sworn deputies. Speaking at a downtown Los Angeles news conference, the sheriff said that as of Tuesday morning, 51.7% of the department's roughly 16,000 employees are fully vaccinated. Among sworn personnel, however, the figure is only 42.8%, while it is 67.2% among professional civilian staff. Countywide, 80% of eligible residents aged 12 and over have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 72% are fully vaccinated. Villanueva estimated that 4,185 personnel are facing possible termination due to failure to meet the county mandate, with nearly 3,200 of those people being sworn personnel, a number he compared to the size of the
agency's entire patrol division. "Imagine what would happen if every one of these (people) were terminated," he said. "What would the department look like." Villanueva also rattled off other statistics showing that 102 employees have filed for early retirement, 238 have given notice that they are leaving the department and more than 300 have submitted workers' compensation claims. The sheriff claimed that the departures were a direct result of the vaccine mandate. Asked how he knew that the mandate was directly responsible, he said, "That's the information we're getting from our employees." "People are not happy with the vaccine mandate," he said. "The fact that we're seeing the uptick, we're attributing that to the vaccine mandate." The sheriff has repeatedly criticized the mandate, while insisting that he is personally vaccinated and believes the vaccines are safe. But he lashed out at the Board of Supervisors -- with whom he
has repeatedly clashed on various issues since taking office -- accusing them of enacting the mandate without considering the consequences in terms of losing public safety personnel. He also claimed that there are 1,605 sworn personnel who have more than 20 years of service, meaning they could retire immediately. The Board of Supervisors ratified an executive order in August that requires all county employees, including sheriff's deputies, to register their vaccination status on an online portal. The mandate allows for religious and medical exceptions. Board members have in turn criticized Villanueva on the issue, accusing him of failing to display leadership in the department by encouraging deputies and employees to get vaccinated. Board chairwoman Hilda Solis said the sheriff was acting more like an "obstacle" instead of working to educate employees about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. In a statement Tuesday,
Villanueva speaking during a press conference Tuesday. | Screenshot from LASD HQ video
Supervisor Janice Hahn urged Villanueva to enforce the vaccine mandate "The number one killer of law enforcement officers nationwide this past year has been COVID," Hahn said. "Instead of implementing L.A. County's vaccine mandate -- like every other county department has done successfully -- he is putting both his
deputies and the public they come face-to-face with every day at unnecessary risk. What we need from the sheriff right now is leadership, for once." Supervisor Kathryn Barger called the county's mandate "an important part of our commitment to keep the public safe from a deadly virus." "It's unfortunate that
the sheriff won't engage in dialogue with me to figure out a solution," she said in a statement. "I am committed to supporting and listening to our sheriff's rank and file to get to the bottom of what barriers and obstacles they are facing so we can reach a resolution. Ultimately, we all share a commitment to public safety."
What must happen for LA County to lift its COVID mask mandate By City News Service
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os Angeles County's health director presented a set of criteria Tuesday being monitored for a possible lifting of mask-wearing mandates at large outdoor events and in indoor settings such as workplaces, but the
requirements likely mean face coverings will be around into the new year. The county has maintained its strict masking requirements despite growing vaccination numbers and downward trends in COVID-19 hospitalizations and infections. Speaking to the county
Board of Supervisors, Barbara Ferrer said the Department of Public Health has developed a list of key metrics the county must meet before the mask mandate can be lifted for large outdoor events and in indoor settings with less than 1,000 people.
Most notably, the county must have three consecutive weeks of "moderate" virus transmission as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That means the county must have a cumulative sevenday new case rate of less than 50 per 100,000 resi-
dents. According to the CDC, the county's current rate is 83 per 100,000 residents, landing the county in the "substantial" transmission category. Ferrer noted that the county's rate last week was about 72, meaning virus transmission has actually increased in the last seven
days. Other criteria that must be reached to consider lifting masking requirements are three consecutive weeks of low hospitalization numbers, a full- vaccination rate of 80% of residents See COVID mask mandate page 3