The demand that all teachers be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is growing as school districts throughout Southern California reopen for in-person classes. The president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, is now among the supporters of a vaccination mandate.
She spoke with NBC News about her position.
“I think that we need to be working with our employers not opposing them on vaccine mandates and all their vaccine policies,” said Weingarten.
California state lawmakers and teachers unions are stopping short of calling for a mandate. However, the Los Angeles Board of Education has issued safety protocols ahead of schools' reopening.
Interim Superintendent Megan Reilly announced at the end of July that all Los Angeles Unified School District staff, vaccinated or not, will have to submit to weekly testing. Staff who have been vaccinated will be required to show proof. Despite not calling for vaccinations, Reilly emphasized the importance of everyone getting their COVID-19 jabs.
In her announcement, Reilly wrote, “Ultimately, the greatest protection against COVID and the Delta variant is vaccination.”
“We encourage everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated.”
Los Angeles County and neighboring Orange County have both seen an increase in hospitalizations and new COVID-19 case numbers in the past weeks. As the surge continued, a number of local governments and businesses adopted vaccinated mandates intended to combat the surge of cases caused by the highly contagious Delta variant.
The county’s Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis issued an executive order last Wednesday that requires all county employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The United States is now averaging more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases a day. That marks the highest nationwide level since last February as the Delta variant spreads, especially in states where large portions of the population remain unvaccinated.
LAUSD said in a statement to KNX that the vaccine is not mandatory for L.A. Unified staff. But, officials said they strongly encourage all stakeholders to consider their options with regard to the COVID-19 vaccine. They added that schools are implementing different layers of safety, which includes the required weekly COVID-19 testing.
Dr. David Agus told KNX schools should go further. He strongly backs a mandate for all school staff. Agus is a professor of medicine at USC’s Keck School of Medicine.
“We have to do what is not necessarily popular with teachers unions and others, which is to mandate vaccines among teachers or mandate a very rigorous testing program for them. The same is true for children. We need to mandate masks for the unvaccinated.”
KNX has reached out to the United Teachers Los Angeles union for comment on the current situation facing the nation's second-largest school district. This story will be updated with any additional comment.
Classes are due to begin for the 2021-2022 school year next Monday.