These Pleasant Hill Businesses To Require Vaccination Proof

PLEASANT HILL, CA — Get your vaccination cards ready or schedule a COVID-19 test, XX. On Wednesday new entry requirements go into effect for a slew of indoor Contra Costa County businesses as officials seek to curb a recent surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Proof of full vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test will be required to enter indoor businesses such as restaurants, fitness centers, bars, entertainment venues and other indoor places where people remove face coverings to eat or drink, Contra Costa Health Services announced last week. Workers in these businesses must either show proof that they are fully vaccinated by Nov. 1 or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.

This is a minor inconvenience for most of Pleasant Hill, where 80.3 percent of eligible residents ages 12 and older are fully vaccinated, according to county data. Countywide, eight in 10 residents are fully inoculated, meaning they received the one-part Johnson & Johnson vaccine or both parts of the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.

The rules pose a much greater hassle to unvaccinated patrons, who must present proof of a negative COVID-19 test result within the past three days.

Patrons who want to show proof that they are fully vaccinated must present a valid photo identification and one of the following.

• A vaccine card from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• A copy or photograph of a vaccine card.
• A digital vaccine record from the state.
• Documentation from a health care provider.

Sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine in Contra Costa.

The order came as Contra Costa and other regions continued to grapple with the highly contagious delta variant, which caused a surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The latest wave of new infections was dubbed a "pandemic of the unvaccinated" by officials in California and elsewhere.

In Contra Costa, unvaccinated residents faced COVID-19 case rates five times higher, hospitalization rates 16 times higher and death rates 22 times higher, the county said last week as it announced the new regulations. About 95 percent of Contra Costa's COVID-19-related deaths have been among unvaccinated people.

The peak of the surge appears to have passed, but Contra Costa's daily case rate remained as high as it was in February 2020, according to the county. The county said it saw 20 COVID-19-related deaths from Sept. 1 to 7 and 15 from Aug. 25 to 31 — the two highest weekly death tolls since March.

Eight COVID-19 patients died in Contra Costa this month, according to county data.

“This order is necessary now to save lives, protect our overburdened healthcare system, and slow the pandemic enough to keep our schools open,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa County Health Officer, in last week's statement. “Reducing community transmission of the virus now is key to preventing future spikes in cases from overwhelming our county’s hospitals during the winter months.”