Pasadena will be the first Southern California city to require its city employees to get vaccinated against COVID. The UC system is also requiring its students and teachers to be vaccinated before the fall semester starts. 

California State Assemblymember Buffy Wicks tweeted on Tuesday that it’s time to make vaccinations mandatory as California’s COVID surge continues. She also wants businesses to start requiring customers to show proof of vaccination before they can enter.

“Many counties in California would be in the purple tier if we were still using the tier system, which would mean no indoor dining [and] our schools would be closed. I do not want to go back to that,” she tells KCRW. “We need a cultural shift in the way that we approach vaccine requirements if we want to get out of this pandemic.”