A week after saying public school teachers in the city would not be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the San Francisco Unified School District reversed course on Tuesday amid the continued spread of the delta variant.
The district on Tuesday announced all of its approximately 10,000 employees will need to be fully vaccinated no later than Sept. 7. Unvaccinated employees will have to undergo weekly testing.
"Given that we are in the midst of rising cases and new variants in our community, a vaccine requirement is a necessary step to keeping our students, staff and families safe," Vincent Matthews, the district's superintendent, said in a statement Tuesday.
In an Aug. 3 town hall with parents, district officials said they would require employees to share their vaccination status, but it wouldn't mandate vaccinations.
Although 95.6% of eligible children in the city have received at least one shot of the vaccine, according to San Francisco data, no children younger than 12 have received a single dose. Those children comprise 10% of the city's population, concerning educators as the delta variant proves to be far more transmissible among people who are unvaccinated.
Last week, children accounted for 15% of COVID-19 cases across the U.S, according to data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital Association. Severe illness, hospitalization and death remain rare among children, but the reasearchers stressed "there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children."
Matthews said in a Tuesday afternoon press conference that testing will be free for district employees, with tests performed at schools and pop-up sites across the district. A "very large percentage" of district employees are already vaccinated, according to the superintendent.
"However, looking at the data, looking at the variants, we just came to the decision that we felt we wanted to be as safe as we could possibly be," Matthews told reporters. "And vaccination is just one of the tools to fight against COVID, but it is the major tool. So we believe it's important for all of our staff to get vaccinated, which we've been encouraging since April (and) March."
"But if staff members are hesitant, then we believe we owe it to the community to say that the people who are working with our children are vaccinated, or they're free of COVID."
United Educators of San Francisco President Cassandra Curiel said the union fully backs the district's requirement after it "took the lead" on advocating for its implementation.
"As we all return to school buildings in person, we are glad that we can move forward welcoming students and families with excitement and ensuring the safest conditions possible in the midst of this continuing pandemic," Curiel said in a statement.
District employees are required to submit vaccine verification no later than Aug. 31. The district said over half of its employees already have so far, prior to classes resuming on Aug. 16.
San Francisco Unified will hold classes in person this year, with students and employees required to wear masks in all but a handful of circumstances.
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