Schools: California superintendent says there will be no vaccine mandates for students
PARAMOUNT >> The state’s top schools chief made another push for Californians to get COVID-19 shots, saying during a visit to Los Angeles County on Wednesday that given the continuing rise in coronavirus cases just as schools are reopening, the best thing people can do to protect themselves and others would be to get vaccinated immediately.
There have been preliminary conversations at the legislative level about mandating vaccinations in K-12 schools, he said, noting, however, that there’s no
guarantee if or when such a proposal would become law. No bill has been introduced and the legislative session is set to end mid-September.
“We’re beyond the point of conversations about a mandate. We just need to be talking to people about getting a vaccine and making sure they know how important it is,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said. “By the time a bill could even be heard, school would be well underway. … We cannot wait on a conversation about a bill. We need to encourage everyone who can get a vaccine to get a vaccine right now.”
Thurmond, who spoke to reporters during a visit to a mobile vaccine clinic organized by the L.A. County Department of Public Health outside Paramount
Library, also applauded the Los Angeles Unified School District for recently taking the “bold” step of requiring all staff members and students on campus, regardless of vaccination status, to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
“The decision to require testing, COVID testing, for every student and staff member at LAUSD is a bold decision. … I think it’s a smart decision. It’s the safe decision. It recognizes that even if you have a vaccine, you can still get COVID,” Thurmond said.
He stopped short, however, of saying all districts should be required to test weekly. That decision is left up to individual school systems.
Asked about the frequency of the testing, Thurmond said he would defer to health experts to determine exactly how often students and staff should be tested. But he indicated general support for regular testing.
“I’m just using common sense logic that if even a vaccinated person can contract COVID because of the variant, then routine testing … could literally save lives,” he said, noting that the state secured 5 million rapid COVID-19 tests for schools to use for free.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that even fully vaccinated people who catch the highly contagious delta variant can transmit the virus. While troubling, health experts are quick to note that people who are fully vaccinated are much less likely to become severely ill or to die if infected.
That’s why health officials are continuing to encourage all eligible individuals to get the shots.
L.A. County public health officials have reported that 99.8% of COVID-19 deaths in the county during the first half of the year were among people who weren’t vaccinated. The mortality rate was 96% between April and June when vaccines were more widely available.
The recent uptick in coronavirus cases, which is largely blamed on the delta variant, has prompted more people to get vaccinated over the last couple of weeks, after a slowdown in vaccination rate.
Concerns about the delta variant was a factor in why Pedro Xuncax got vaccinated Wednesday.
The 17-year-old, who will start his senior year at Hamilton High School this month, had held off getting inoculated until now because his father was concerned about potential side effects on young, developing bodies.
But with the presence of the more contagious variant and with Pedro returning to school, his older sister convinced their father to have him get the shot. Martha Xuncax, who accompanied her brother to the clinic, stressed the urgency of getting vaccinated before school started.
Afterwards, the LAUSD student said getting the shot gave him a greater peace of mind.
“I do feel a little sigh of relief because I know when I go back to school, there are going to be kids who don’t wash their hands, who aren’t taking the safety precautions,” he said. “So just being vaccinated will make me feel safer.”