California School Districts Respond to State’s Delay of Student Vaccine Mandate

High school student, 17, receives her first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine administered by Medical Assistants from St. John's Well Child and Family Center at Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles on April 23, 2021. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Local school districts in California are deciding whether to implement the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for K–12 students to attend in-person instructions after the state postponed the mandate until at least mid-2023.

The state Department of Public Health announced on April 14 that the state will delay its vaccine mandate for students from July 2022 to July 2023 because the vaccines have yet to be fully approved for children by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but local school districts can set their own protocols.