March 2023: CDPH to End COVID-19 Vaccination and Masking Mandates for Healthcare Workers

Update Applicable to:
All employers of healthcare workers in the state of California.

What happened?
On March 3, 2023, the CDPH announced it would end vaccination requirements for healthcare workers, including those in direct care, adult care, correctional facilities, and detention centers.

What are the details?
Effective April 3, 2023, masks and vaccinations will no longer be required in indoor high-risk and healthcare settings. This includes health care, long-term care, correctional facilities, homeless, emergency, and warming and cooling centers.  The CDPH stated that delaying this change to April 3 is to allow local health departments and individual healthcare facilities to develop and implement plans customized to their needs and local conditions. Presumably, this leaves the door open for healthcare employers to continue to mandate masking and vaccination based on individual factors such as their facility, patient demographics, and community transmission rates. The remaining CDPH recommendations for using face masks for individuals in non-healthcare settings remain unchanged. See masking guidance.​

In addition to lifting the vaccination mandate, the CDPH will remove masking requirements for high-risk settings effective April 3, 2023. Masks will no longer be required in health care, long-term care, correctional facilities, homeless, emergency, and warming and cooling centers.

The CDPH indicated that the month between the announcement and the April 3rd effective date is intended to provide health departments and healthcare facilities with time to develop plans customized to their needs and local conditions.

In addition to these healthcare-related orders, the CDPH updated its Isolation and Quarantine Guidance to remove the recommendation that individuals test for COVID-19 to leave isolation before Day 10 under certain circumstances. Effective March 13, 2023, a COVID-19-positive person may end isolation after five days if they feel well, have improving symptoms, and are fever-free for 24 hours. The Guidance also amends masking requirements for individuals leaving isolation sooner than Day 10.

For more information, please see the links below:

USCIS Newsroom

Masking Guidance

Isolation and Quarantine Guidance

Article 1 – Article 2

What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the links above, continue to try their best to protect patients and employees from COVID-19 in the best way they see fit, and refer to the updated guidance.