L.A County Sherif Will Not Enforce County’s Vaccine Mandate

Despite the Los Angeles County mandate that requires employees to be fully vaccinated by October 1st, Sheriff Alex Villanueva refuses to enforce this policy. Villanueva oversees the largest sheriff’s department in the country, with roughly 18,000 employees. He took to Facebook Live to share his refusal to carry out the mandate, stating: “I don’t want to be in a position to lose 5, 10% of my workforce overnight on a vaccine mandate.” He said that some of his employees that be terminated then get the vaccine.

This vaccine mandate was issued by executive order in August and allows only for religious and medical exemptions. Los Angeles County is the nation’s most populous county and more than 26,000 people have died of the coronavirus. According to public health officials, of the county’s roughly 10 million residents, 78% have received at least one vaccine dose, and 69% are fully vaccinated.

Source: NPR