Sonoma County mandates flu shots for care workers

A new Sonoma County health order makes flu shots mandatory this year for most care workers.

The mandate, announced Tuesday, requires the workers to get vaccinated against influenza by Nov. 30.

It applies to hospice and in-home care workers, employees at state-licensed adult and senior care centers and workers at centers for people with disabilities.

Workers covered under the order are also required by the state to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 30.

“The vaccinations are mandatory because these staffers work in high-risk settings where transmission of COVID-19 or influenza can have severe consequences for vulnerable populations resulting in extreme illness, hospitalization and death,” county officials said in an announcement.

Workers with medical or religious exemptions to the mandate will be required to wear surgical masks or respirators while working indoors beginning Nov. 30.

Sonoma County’s public health officer, Dr. Sundari Mase, said in the announcement that flu shots this year could help keep hospitals from filling up with a combination of influenza and COVID-19 patients. Last year, Mase said, flu cases declined as a result of widespread mask wearing and fewer indoor gatherings.

“That freed up hospital beds, helping us weather a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations over winter,” Mase said.

But this year, Mase said she expects more indoor gatherings during the holidays, which could result in an increase in influenza transmission.

"If we all get a flu shot, then it will help keep people out of the hospital and free up our doctors and nurses to care for the very sickest in our community,“ she said.

The new public health order represents an expansion of Sonoma County’s previous flu shot mandate for nurses, physicians, technicians, therapists and pharmacists at facilities including nursing homes, dialysis centers, dental offices and psychiatric hospitals. Workers covered under that order, issued Oct. 1, are required to get a flu shot by Monday.

County officials said flu shots are “widely available” through doctor’s offices, health clinics, pharmacies and certain COVID-19 vaccine clinics. It is safe to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza at the same time, officials said.

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Pera at matthew.pera@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Matt__Pera.