File photo: Luis Obispo enjoying an afternoon at the park with his granddaughter, MacKenzie Jones. Under the new CDC guidelines, fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks in most settings. Photo credit: Pearl Obispo.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidance Thursday indicating that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely resume activities that were done prior to the pandemic. L.A. County and the state will review the recommendations in order to make sensible adjustments. In the interim, please note that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask when indoors around other fully vaccinated people, or outside in uncrowded areas. When at businesses and in crowded venues, both indoors and outdoors, masks are still required to be worn by everyone.
Friday, May 14, 2021
On Thursday, May 13, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) delivered welcome news for vaccinated individuals in the form of revised Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People. The new guidance provides: “[f]ully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.” In general, an individual is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose in the case of a two-dose series vaccine or two weeks after a the first dose in a single-dose vaccine.
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On May 5, 2021, California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal OSHA) updated its COVID-19 FAQ to provide guidance on California employers’ obligation to exclude employees who are fully vaccinated when exposed to a confirmed positive COVID-19 case.
asymptomatic. While the CDPH has provided general guidance for fully vaccinated people congregating indoors and at crowded outdoor events, it has specifically carved out language for employers to abide by in the workplace.
Moreover, Cal-OSHA has clarified that employees who are not fully vaccinated are now subject to a 10-day quarantine period and exclusion from the workplace during a COVID-19 exposure even though the agency recommends a 14-day quarantine period.
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On November 30, 2020, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, more commonly known as Cal/OSHA, adopted COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) for California. Among other topics, the ETS required that employers develop a written COVID-19 Prevention Program and provided guidance on how employers should address COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in the workplace. Since Cal/OSHA issued its ETS, the California workplace landscape has changed dramatically, with large-scale vaccinations for all ages and employees returning to work across the state.
On May 7, 2021, Cal/OSHA submitted significant proposed revisions to the ETS, which the Cal/OSHA Standards Board will consider at its May 20, 2021, meeting. The proposed revisions include changes across almost the entire ETS regulatory landscape, including the following:
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The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) and the California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH) have focused recently on how the rules they enforce apply to COVID-19-vaccination-related developments.
Cal/OSHA
The Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board (OSHSB) adopted COVID-19-related emergency temporary standards late last year that remain in effect until Oct. 2, 2021. One provision requires employers to exclude employees exposed in the workplace to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 for at least 10 days after the infected individual’s first positive test. An employer must provide full pay and benefits to an employee so excluded who is able and available to work. “An employer may require the employee to exhaust paid sick leave benefits before providing exclusion pay, to the extent permitted by law, and may offset payments by the amount an employee receives in other benefit payments.”