California to require healthcare workers to get their booster

CALIFORNIA (KION-TV) Governor Gavin Newsom's latest announcement said healthcare workers will be required to get their COVID-19 booster shot. All workers will be required to receive a booster by Feb. 1, 2022 and be tested twice weekly in the time they are not boosted.

"We need to keep all of you healthy and safe. And again, the best way to do that is to get boosted," Gov. Newsom said in a press conference.

The administration put out an executive order last month, saying they did it in anticipation of this announcement.

READ MORE: Two new Omicron cases detected in Santa Cruz County

In the Central Coast, Santa Cruz has already reported to two Omicron variant cases coming from individual living north of the county. The University of California Santa Cruz decided to start their winter quarter remotely as the number of COVID-19 case rise.

READ MORE: UC Santa Cruz goes remote for part of the winter quarter

The booter mandate comes with a series of new actions under Newsom's agenda.

Among the new actions Newsom announced in his plan to expand testing and encourage boosters include expanding testing access for students and testing site hours.

California is providing 1-2 rapid test for every K-12 public school student as kids head back to school from winter break.

"That's why we're not getting in their way in terms of making those local decisions. We just want baseline considerations to be met."

READ MORE: COVID-19 test kits distributed to students, staff in effort to prevent winter surge

The state is also expanding testing site hours for state-operated centers that have reached capacity.