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Nearly 40% of California state workers are not vaccinated, despite Governor Newsom's vaccine order.
New data from the state Human Resources Department shows that fewer than two-thirds of state workers - about 62% -are vaccinated. 72% of all Californians are now vaccinated. Several of the largest state departments shared vaccination rates for their staff: 52% of California Highway Patrol employees, 60% of Department of Motor Vehicles employees and 60% of prison employees have received the shots. Caltrans reports a higher rate, with 70% of its employees vaccinated against COVID-19, according to The Sacramento Bee.
Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly has expressed frustration with the pace of vaccination in a Sept. 28 letter to state employees he said was occasioned by the preventable COVID-19 death of a worker who left behind a wife and two children. He has urged employees to get vaccinated for their families, noting the vaccines are safe and effective and have helped keep the delta variant of the virus at bay.