The COVID tyrants are back at it again.
Just when Americans thought the days of mask mandates were behind them, one California county decided to bring back their favorite authoritarian tool.
And COVID mandates just returned in this Kamala Country town that will have RFK Jr furious.
Sonoma County brings back the COVID police state
While the rest of America has moved on from the pandemic hysteria, Sonoma County in California’s wine country just rolled out a brand new mask mandate.
Dr. Karen Smith, the county’s Interim Health Officer, issued an order Monday requiring masks in healthcare facilities starting November 1st through March 31st, 2026.
The mandate covers skilled nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, rehabilitation centers, infusion centers, and dialysis centers.
But here’s the kicker – Smith can expand the mandate to other facilities "on an as-needed basis."
That’s bureaucrat speak for "we’ll keep adding more places until we control everything again."
The county claims they’re doing this to protect "vulnerable populations" like the elderly and cancer patients.
Smith also ramped up vaccine recommendations, strongly recommending COVID shots for everyone six months and older – plus flu vaccines on top of that.
She’s even recommending that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people wear masks in indoor public spaces when COVID or influenza risk is high in Sonoma County.
It’s like they learned nothing from the last four years of failed COVID theater.
This directly defies RFK Jr.’s new health policies
Here’s what makes this particularly outrageous.
Smith’s mask mandates and vaccine pushing directly contradict the new guidance coming from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Just this week, the Centers for Disease Control signed off on HHS recommendations that remove the blanket recommendation that adults 65 and older get a COVID vaccination.
The CDC also now recommends that people ages six months to 64 years consult with their doctors before deciding whether to get a COVID vaccination, emphasizing the risks and benefits.
Kennedy and HHS have narrowed the approval scope for new COVID vaccines as part of their commitment to "science, safety, and common sense."
Meanwhile, Sonoma County is doing the exact opposite – ramping up mandates and pushing vaccines like it’s still 2021.
Talk about being completely out of step with federal health policy.
The real agenda behind Sonoma County’s COVID revival
Look, this isn’t about public health anymore.
While Sonoma County is certainly liberal territory, this isn’t necessarily about direct political resistance to Trump.
But health officials in liberal counties like Sonoma are doubling down on the same failed COVID policies that characterized the Biden years.
They’re betting that if they can re-stoke the fear in their corner of California, they can bring back their emergency authority powers too.
They’re trying to implement the same COVID authoritarianism that destroyed so many lives and businesses over the past few years.
These local health officials know their days of wielding unlimited emergency powers are numbered under the new administration.
So they’re grabbing whatever control they can while they still can.
The mask mandate runs through March 2026, and – get this – the order states it will be "put in place annually unless otherwise rescinded."
They’re literally trying to make seasonal mask mandates a permanent feature of life in Sonoma County.
This is what happens when you give bureaucrats emergency powers – they never want to give them back.
The good news is that Kennedy and the Trump administration aren’t going to let local tyrants undermine federal health policy forever.
County health officers who think they can play COVID dictator are about to learn that the American people are done with their power trips.
The days of using public health as a weapon against individual freedom are coming to an end – whether places like Sonoma County like it or not.
¹ Alec Schemmel, "Mask mandates return in wealthy blue state county, leaders cite ‘risk of COVID’ and up vaccine recommendations," Fox News, October 8, 2025.
