LA Unified Considers Delaying Student COVID Vaccine Mandate Until 2023

LA Unified Considers Delaying Student COVID Vaccine Mandate Until 2023
A nurse administers a pediatric dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to a girl in Los Angeles on Jan. 19, 2022. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
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The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is recommending delaying the deadline of its COVID-19 vaccination requirement for students until the summer of 2023—in alignment with the state’s timeline.

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho recommended the district postpone its student vaccine mandate from August 15, 2022, to July 1, 2023, according to an April 28 statement—two weeks after the state’s health department announced the delay of its student vaccine mandate from July 2022 to July 2023 because the vaccines have yet to be fully approved for children under 16 by the Food and Drug Administration.

Carvalho came to the decision after consultation with health experts and the district’s medical director, citing high COVID-19 vaccination rates among students 12 and older and low transmission rates in the school community, according to the statement.

“We know that students do best when learning in the classroom with their peers,” Carvalho said in the statement. “Due to the high vaccination rates among students 12 and older, low transmission rates in our schools and our nation-leading safety measures, we have preserved in-person learning in the safest possible environment.”