California state employees and health care workers will need to show proof they've gotten a COVID-19 vaccine or get tested weekly under a new mandate, state officials announced Monday.

At least 238,000 state employees and 2 million health care workers across public and private sectors will be subject to the new mandate, the Associated Press reported.

VETERANS AFFAIRS TO MANDATE COVID VACCINE FOR HEALTH CARE PERSONNEL, FIRST SUCH MANDATE FOR FEDERAL AGENCY.

About 75% of eligible California residents have received at least one vaccine dose and 62% are fully vaccinated, but the number of people getting vaccinated has dropped significantly. .

"The delta variant is up to 60% more infectious than the alpha strain but many times more infectious than the original COVID-19 strain," California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said in a written statement.

Even with the number of coronavirus hospitalizations rising – nearly 3,000 in California up from a low of fewer than 900 in June – Newsom has appeared hesitant to restore safety measures like social distancing and mask requirements since the state began reopening last month.

Los Angeles County brought back its indoor mask requirement last week, even for people who are fully vaccinated.

And in Santa Clara County, officials have said they intend to have all 22,000 county employees get vaccinated.