SACRAMENTO, Calif. 鈥 Dr. Mark Ghaly, head of California鈥檚 massive Health and Human Services Agency, continues to wear a mask in grocery stores and will dine outside 鈥 but not indoors 颅鈥 at restaurants even as California, like much of the nation, has lifted its mask mandate and many other pandemic restrictions. This was among the topics explored March 4 as KHN Senior Correspondent Samantha Young met with Ghaly for a wide-ranging 30-minute interview hosted by the .
Young spoke with Ghaly, Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 top health adviser, about the administration鈥檚 plans for moving forward as covid case rates and hospitalizations ebb. Vaccines, testing, and masking are all part of the governor鈥檚 strategy, Ghaly said, as covid becomes endemic and Californians learn to live with the virus.
A pediatrician and father of four, Ghaly said the covid vaccine should be required for schoolchildren, similar to other mandatory childhood vaccines. 鈥淥ur schools are better off because we have these requirements鈥 for preventing diseases, Ghaly said.
California will allow children to be in classrooms without a mask after March 11, but Ghaly said he hasn鈥檛 yet talked with his kids about what they鈥檒l do.
Click to listen to the full conversation.
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