LA school district to impose vaccines on students

Students participating in in-person extracurricular activities need both injections sooner, by the end of October. The resolution mentions “qualified and approved exemptions” but does not offer details.

The first data on infections in Los Angeles schools this school year have been reassuring. According to a Los Angeles Times tracker based on district data, 1,385 active cases of Covid-19 had been identified in schools on Tuesday; four were linked to campus transmissions and only one school experienced an outbreak on campus.

Like many districts, Los Angeles Unified operates immunization clinics in schools. It has the largest school testing program in the country, screening all students and staff for the infection every week. Masks are required for everyone on campus, inside and out, and staff members should be vaccinated, with a few exceptions for serious health concerns and sincere religious beliefs.

The four-month delay before proof of vaccination is required on January 10 would allow the district to partner with community organizations, clinics and doctors’ offices to reach about 80,000 students who are eligible for vaccination but who do not. have not been vaccinated, Mr Melvoin said. . The district could knock on doors, in an effort similar to encouraging families to complete the US census.

The task will be logistically complicated in a large sprawling neighborhood like Los Angeles. And while not all eligible students will be fully vaccinated by Christmas, the timing of the required first and second vaccines should allow students to gain at least some protection against the virus before the holiday season, when cases have occurred. increased last year.

“We didn’t want to derail the district by setting a deadline that had to be pushed back,” Mr. Melvoin said.

A key group supporting a student immunization mandate is the city’s teachers’ union, United Teachers Los Angeles. The group lobbied for strict security measures throughout the pandemic and, in the previous school year, a longer period of distance learning. The union continues to call for more aggressive quarantines for those exposed to the virus.