Dozens of Los Angeles city employees are now going unpaid after refusing to sign notices that directed them to get COVID-19 vaccines by a December deadline — and the numbers could grow in coming weeks, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday.

Garcetti addressed the issue at an evening briefing on COVID-19, his first since testing positive for the virus himself in recent weeks and having to isolate while in Scotland for a climate change summit. The mayor said that 77 workers were on unpaid leave as of Wednesday and that roughly an additional 700 employees were vulnerable to joining them in the next two weeks. The city employs more than 50,000 people.

In his speech, the mayor urged Angelenos to get booster shots, immunize children who are newly eligible for the vaccine, and to be tested if they are experiencing any symptoms, stressing that lower temperatures and more time spent indoors could make it easier for COVID and the flu to spread.

“We can win this. This victory is here in front of us. But it requires each of us to take action. To do what’s right. And to move this city forward,” he said.

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