California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to allow dentists to apply for licensure permitting them to administer rapid COVID-19 tests and vaccinations at their offices.
Dentist employers will need to obtain a certificate of waiver from the CMS Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments program and Laboratory Field Services lab registration from the California Department of Public Health. They can then administer COVID-19 tests to team members who are not patients to comply with public health orders.
Dentists who do not want to administer tests in their office can arrange for employees to get weekly COVID-19 testing at community testing sites or provide rapid COVID-19 tests for patients or employees to self-conduct.
The law also allows dentists to administer FDA-approved or FDA-authorized COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations.