Marin First Responders Ordered To Get Vaxxed

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Marin first responders have been ordered to get vaccinated, or they won’t be able to work with the public much longer.

Unvaccinated cops, firefighters and emergency medical personnel won’t be allowed to work in high-risk Marin settings unless they’re fully vaccinated by April 15, under a revised health order that was scheduled to go into effect Feb. 10 at 12:01 a.m.

Unvaccinated Marin first responders will need to receive their first shot by March 1 and complete the three-dose regimen by April 15.

Personnel will also need to be up-to-date with a booster shot within 15 days of becoming booster-eligible to continue working in higher-risk settings and interact with the public.

“Starting April 15, unvaccinated or unboosted first responders will be prohibited from entering higher-risk settings or interacting with the public in the course of their work unless they have a qualifying exemption,” county officials said in a statement Wednesday.

“First responders without a medical or religious exemption can no longer ‘test out’ of vaccination requirements.”

Recent outbreaks have been traced to unvaccinated first responders, according to Marin County Public Health records.

As of Feb. 7, Marin County Public Health was managing multiple, preventable outbreaks in vulnerable, higher-risk settings.

Those settings include those in which the first responders work with people who are at higher risk of severe illness, hospitalization, or death from COVID-19, including congregate settings. Among active outbreaks countywide, there is one at the Marin County Jail, nine at skilled nursing facilities (“nursing homes”), nine at residential care facilities for the elderly, and 19 at other group living facilities.

“These outbreaks have been amplified by contact with unboosted staff, an inadequate testing cadence, and a highly contagious variant,” Marin County Deputy Public Health Officer Dr. Lisa Santora said in a statement.

“It is critical to protect our public safety and health care systems from the Omicron variant as well as future waves of COVID-19 activity.”

Marin has one of the highest vaccination rates of any county in the nation with 94.9 percent of those aged 5 and over having completed a vaccine series.

“While highly vaccinated, Marin County is experiencing waning community immunity,” Santora said.

“It has been more than one year since many first responders completed their primary COVID-19 vaccine series.”

Santora said it’s critical to ensure all individuals working in higher-risk settings are both vaccinated and boosted when eligible.

Protecting frontline workers from infection is essential to staffing our critical infrastructure, including public safety and health care systems.

Those working in higher-risk settings can also expose highly vulnerable individuals who are at increased risk of severe illness and death.

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