COVID-19 Information and FAQs

To combat the COVID-19 delta variant’s deadly toll in communities nationwide, President Joe Biden on Sept. 9 announced a COVID-19 action plan that mandates vaccination, with no testing option, for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating hospitals and other health care settings.

Qualified small business owners in California, including dentists, who have experienced pandemic-related health and safety restrictions, such as business interruptions or closures or increased PPE costs, can apply Sept. 9-30 for a California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant.

California dentists and their staff are voicing two primary concerns related to the recent public health COVID-19 vaccination orders: (1) Why are individuals required to submit proof of vaccination if they can submit proof of COVID-19 antibodies, and (2) what is going on with COVID-19 booster shots? 

Dental offices in California should be complying now with the state public health order of July 26 that requires all health care workers, beginning Aug. 23, to either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to regular testing. 

Conflicting views over mandatory vaccine policies could potentially lead to an employee quitting or getting fired and subsequently filing for unemployment. But whether an employee is still entitled to unemployment benefits if they quit or get fired for not complying with the public order varies on a case-by-case basis. 

CDA and the California Department of Public Health have partnered in a COVID-19 vaccination initiative for dental practices that includes in-office flyers, a fact sheet for patients and other resources dentists can use to promote vaccine confidence in the office.

An all-member webinar CDA hosted Aug. 12 addressed the state's COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates and how they apply to dental offices and staff. Dentists who missed the webinar can watch the recording.

CDA’s Employment Practices Analyst Michelle Corbo will present a C.E.-eligible webinar Aug. 23 that Corbo says will help dentist-employers “get their HR back on track.”

Dental-office staff in Los Angeles County and San Francisco will be required soon to show proof of vaccination to work in or enter those facilities following two new public health orders issued last week. 

The California public health order of July 26 requires all health care workers in the state to either show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 or be tested regularly. CDA is seeking guidance from the state on outstanding questions, particularly about how the weekly testing requirements for unvaccinated individuals must be implemented.