Los Angeles Mandates Vaccines or Weekly COVID Tests for All City Employees

All employees of the city of Los Angeles will be required to either get a COVID-19 vaccine or submit to weekly COVID-19 tests, Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council President Nury Martinez announced Tuesday.

Details about implementing the mandate are still being finalized, but departments of city government have until Aug. 13 to issue a report about how many of their employees have received a vaccine.

"The fourth wave is here, and the choice for Angelenos couldn’t be clearer: Get vaccinated or get Covid-19. This urgent need means that if you’re a city employee, we’re now going to require you to either show that you’re vaccinated or take a weekly test," Garcetti said during the announcement.

During her remarks, Martinez in particular called attention to the fact that the new surge in COVID-19 cases is the fault of people who refuse to get vaccinated. “I think it’s safe to say that we’re getting tired of putting our lives on hold to protect people who don’t want to protect themselves and get vaccinated," she said.

The announcement comes a day after California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state will require vaccines or regular COVID tests for all state employees, starting August 2, with health care facilities having until Aug. 23 to be in full compliance.

Watch the announcement of Los Angeles' new COVID-19 safety regulations below.



L.A. is experiencing a rise in COVID-19 infections due to the highly infectious Delta variant. Please join me for the latest information on how you can continue to protect yourself and others. https://t.co/qBwURx6BWn

— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) July 28, 2021

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