Gov. Gavin Newsom is scheduled to sign legislation this morning that incentivizes school districts to reopen their classrooms.
Many teachers’ unions have been pushing to delay reopening until teachers have had a chance to be vaccinated.
But a new report finds states and districts aren't keeping track of how many teachers are getting the shot. A Johns Hopkins University analysis out Thursday showed no states are publicly reporting school staff vaccination data.
The AP reports many districts cite privacy concerns as the reason they can't track or publish teacher vaccination numbers.
That may worry some parents, but the CDC and California officials both say it is safe to reopen without inoculating teachers.
UCSF epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford says vaccines are just one layer of protection at schools.
“It’s belt and suspenders you know. We’re adding things together to keep a low risk even lower. And so that includes things like decreasing density, wearing masks, improving ventilation when and where it’s possible. Los Angeles county has gone to great lengths to test teachers and do random testing of students. And finally, vaccination."
He says that in districts that have opened, instances of teachers transmitting the virus are exceptionally rare.
“Having the teachers vaccinated is only one of many ways of accomplishing the same goal, which is to cut down risk of teacher to student transmission. The main way is to wear masks."
