Editorial: Governor Newsom must deliver on testing unvaccinated state workers

So much for leading by example.

In July, Gavin Newsom announced a mandate that state workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing.

It was absolutely the right thing to do in order to quell the pandemic. But, as Californians have too often come to expect, the governor is delivering far less than promised.

The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that since the state policy took effect in August, California is failing to test even half of the state’s unvaccinated workers.

It’s a terrible message that could encourage Californians to flaunt crucial vaccination mandates. As Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infections-disease expert at UC-San Francisco, told the Times, the point of the governor’s mandate “is because these employees are public interfacing, and the vaccine protects them and the public they serve. Then, if the testing component isn’t being universally applied, you’re defeating the point.”

Exactly.

Many of the state departments don’t have testing sites available at their workplaces, much less weekly testing.

The Times reported that the Department of Motor Vehicles has about 3,600 unvaccinated staffers, but only 411 (roughly 11%) are being tested on a weekly basis.

The situation is even worse at the California Department of Forest and Fire Protection. CalFire said that not even a third of its employees have provided proof of vaccination, leaving 6,700 employees who are either not vaccinated or haven’t provide an indication of their status. But CalFire is testing only 75 (or 1%) of non-vaccinated employees.

Some of the state’s agencies have yet to report on their vaccination rates or testing information.

The failure mirrors Newsom’s announcement in April, 2020, that California would “open up business as usual” on June 15, calling it a “big day” for the state.

Newsom said in April 2020 that he would use indicators to measure when the state lockdown would end. The first, he said, was the ability to monitor and protect communities through testing, contact tracing and isolating and supporting people who tested positive and were exposed. But a month later he abandoned that prudent approach, declaring he would loosen his lockdown orders even though the state couldn’t meet the testing and contact-tracing criteria. At the time, the state was conducting fewer than half as many tests as needed to reduce the spread of the virus and only about 11% of what was required to reopen the economy.

It’s simply poor planning and strategy to announce testing mandates without a corresponding implementation plan that has a reasonable chance to succeed. But this time around, the situation may get worse before it gets better. Clinics and retailers are reporting nationwide shortages of rapid test kits, and some stores are limiting sales of tests to one per customer.

California needs vaccination mandates to succeed. But enforcement is where rubber meets the road. Without sufficient testing capacity, the governor’s mandates risk becoming meaningless.