Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
The City of Los Angeles’ new vaccine mandate cruised to council and mayoral approval, but not everyone in the nation’s second largest city is on board.
On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Garcetti signed into law an ordinance that will require proof of vaccination to enter indoor venues including restaurants, bars, clubs and gyms and salons – giving the city one of the most strict vaccine mandates in the country. Grocery stores and pharmacies were not included on the list.
“Vaccinating more Angelenos is our only way out of this pandemic, and we must do everything in our power to keep pushing those numbers up,” Garcetti said in a statement. “These new rules will encourage more people to get the shot, and make businesses safer for workers and customers — so that we can save more lives, better protect the vulnerable, and make our communities even safer as we fight this pandemic.”
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the law goes into effect on Nov. 4, and enforcement will begin Nov. 29. An establishment that violates the mandate will be fined $1,000 on its second offense, $2,000 on its third, and $5,000 for its fourth.
The mandate, which will expire when the city’s state of emergency declaration is lifted, contains language that allows residents to request an exemption on religious or medical grounds, or to show proof of a negative COVID test in lieu of proof of vaccination.
Yet, even as the mandate was being approved, a collection of people were already vowing to defy the law.
Most notable among this group was Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva who, The Hill reports, said he will not require his officers to be vaccinated.
The Hill quoted Villanueva as saying, “No, I am not forcing anyone, the issue has become so politicized there are entire groups of employees that are willing to be fired and laid off rather than get vaccinated.”
Villanueva has previously refused to enforce a county mask mandate. It is important to note that Villanueva’s office is not the law enforcement agency with primary jurisdiction to enforce a city ordinance.
Such enforcement would be the responsibility of the Los Angeles Police Department. But, according to a report on Rolling Stone’s website, as of Thursday, about 40% of LAPD’s officers, who’ve resisted mask requirements, remained unvaccinated; and there is concern some officers might resign rather than be vaccinated.
The rancor over this week’s mandate follows a pattern established in the wake of previous Los Angeles and California attempts to pressure residents into getting vaccinated.
On Monday, when a Los Angeles hospital began having unvaccinated employees escorted from work, Dr. Christopher Rake, a UCLA anesthesiologist, posted a live video of his removal.
The video features Rake attempting to question the men escorting him off campus.
UCLA anesthesiologist Dr. Chris Rake, a COVID-19 vaccine mandate opponent, was escorted out of the UCLA medical plaza yesterday and placed on unpaid administrative leave for refusing to get vaccinated or request an exemption.
“I’m willing to go lose everything…even my life.” pic.twitter.com/7AxUX4uyeF
— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) October 6, 2021
“This is what happens when you stand up for freedom, and you show up to work, willing to work, despite being unvaccinated, this is the price you have to pay sometimes,” Rake said in the video. “What they don’t realize is that I’m willing to go lose everything … job, paycheck, freedom, even my life, for this cause.”
Many thousands of parents have proven willing to remove their children from school along similar lines.
Fox News reports that in the wake of the Los Angeles School District announcing that all school children must be vaccinated by Jan. 10, 2022, enrollment has dropped by 27,000.
Despite the city’s numerous mandates, per a KABC Los Angeles report, vaccination rates remain low, particularly in the Black and Latino communities.