As California state lawmakers prepare to vote on seven COVID-19-related bills this month, two nurses reflected on how their hospitals managed vaccine mandates and religious exemptions. “There’s a lot of data suggesting that the mandate we did, didn’t make a lot of difference,” said Authur Gorman, a registered nurse from northern California’s Shasta County. “Going forward, I want people to research that data, but I also want them to do local control.” Gorman said California’s blanket mandate pushed many healthcare workers out from their jobs during the pandemic. Gorman said that when the state mandated vaccines for all healthcare workers, many staff at Mercy Medical Center in Redding—the hospital he worked at—were put on leave. Then in July 2021, the state implemented a vaccine mandate for all healthcare workers. Those who did not comply by Sept. 30, 2021, were put on leave. Gorman said that mandating the vaccine didn’t make …