Written by Michael Palomba
When asked why law enforcement officers in San Diego aren’t currently eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher falsely claimed that state and federal guidelines are to blame.
“We’ve got established guidance from the federal government and the state government, that we have to follow. And that says you have to do healthcare workers and 65 and older, and then you can move into that first tier of essential worker and those first responders are in that first tier.”
KUSI pressed Fletcher on his response, asking, if that was true, why have officers in orange, Marin, and Riverside counties been vaccinated.
Fletcher responded, “you would have to ask those counties.”
When KUSI reached out to the Governor’s office for additional clarity, Darrel Ng, a member of the state’s COVID-19 Task Force told them, “at this point, counties have the discretion in who they are vaccinating. The state provides guidance and the local health officer has the ability to accept/modify at his or her discretion.”
The Chula Vista Police Department says their City Council has “made calls to County of San Diego Board of Supervisors in an attempt to get our officers authorized to be vaccinated,” but have not been successful.
Nathan Fletcher is no stranger to shirking responsibility. In early January he declared that he takes no responsibility for business closures in San Diego, despite being a strong proponent of Gov. Newsom’s shut down order and voting to increase enforcement against businesses that refused to close their doors.
