DETROIT (WWJ) -- The Detroit Public School District Board of Education has given final approval to a vaccine mandate for all staff and faculty and are considering to do the same for all of the students.
During a Thursday afternoon retreat, the board voted for the mandate, which will give staff until Feb. 18 to get their COVID-19 vaccine.
Those who don't get vaccinated could be fired.
Exemptions will be allowed for medical or religious reasons.
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Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti said earlier this week there had been about 150 positive cases of COVID-19 involving unvaccinated workers since the beginning of the school year.
About 80% of teachers and workers have been vaccinated.
Vitti said the district is also looking into the legality of a vaccine mandate for students, citing the 11,000 students in the district who have been quarantined this year due to COVID.
Vitti said those students lost the opportunity to learn in a consistent way and since they now have the tools available -- like a vaccine mandate -- to ensure students can learn while staying healthy, he's going to recommend the mandate for students to the school board on the legal determination of what they can and can't do.
He said, in the future, that it is likely that he will recommend a requirement for students to be vaccinated for COVID-19 by fall 2022.
The school board introduced the draft of the faculty and staff vaccine mandate Tuesday, Dec. 14, and no members objected to it.
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