San Benito requires County employees to get COVID-19 vaccine or bi-weekly testing

SAN BENITO, Calif. (KION) San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday morning to require all unvaccinated county staff to be tested twice a week. This includes County employees and volunteers. According to Public Information Officer, Dave Westrick, San Benito County approved their COVID-19 Vaccine Status Verification and Testing Policy around 8 a.m. this morning.

The Board of Supervisors decided not to vote on the issue Tuesday night after a tense meeting where the conversation became heated with some people being kicked out of the council chambers. Supervisor Bea Gonzalez also said she wanted more time to read through the policy.

Last week, San Benito County announced they will be requiring public safety workers to be COVID-19 vaccinated starting Sept. 30. That same week multiple Hollister firefighters test positive for COVID-19.

Erika Bratten spoke to attornies about the legality of mandating employees to be vaccinated. Click here to read what they had to say about COVID-19 vaccinations requirements in the workplace.

You can read the full San Benito County COVID-19 Vaccine Status Verification and Testing Policy below.