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UCSF Dr. Bob Wachter On Vaccination Mandates; COVID Booster Shots

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Hours after the state announced a mandate, a leading expert from UC San Francisco said he was in favor of the new requirements as a way to slow the surge in COVID Delta variant cases.

Dr. Bob Wachter appeared on KPIX 5's 5 O'clock news Thursday.

"I am all in favor," he said of requiring medical workers to be tested. "I have thought from the very beginning, it has been very appropriate for healthcare workers who take an oath to do no harm...We know that vaccination rates, for example, in nursing home in nursing homes are often 50 percent, that is unconscionable."

As for the need for booster shots, Wachter said you'll likely need to have one depending when you got your original vaccination.

"I suspect we will be seeing a need for boosters in older people and immunocompromised people and probably people who got Johnson & Johnson," he said. "Maybe people who got their vaccinations a while ago. I am over 60 and got my Pfizer shots about 7 or 8 months ago. I haven't gotten a booster but wouldn't be surprised if there is a recommendation coming."

Click to watch the entire interview

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