LAUSD drops vaccine mandate for employees

Cameron Kiszla
·1 min read
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There are a lot of good reasons to get vaccinated, but if you’re an employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District, a requirement is no longer one of them.

The LAUSD Board of Education dropped its COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Tuesday, almost exactly two years after it was first implemented, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News.

The 6-1 vote was opposed only by Board member George McKenna, who said the mandate “had saved lives and lessened the severity of the illness — and that it probably would still do so,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Other school officials disagreed, with several stating that while the requirement was important two years ago, conditions around COVID-19 have changed.

“This was a necessary requirement and it was adopted so that schools could reopen safely based on information that was known then, verified then,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said, as reported by the Daily News. “COVID-19 is now in an endemic phase. It has entered the state of stability and increased predictability that comes usually with other viruses such as RSV and the flu.”

The LAUSD board’s decision comes just days after the release of an updated COVID-19 booster.

For information about vaccines and where to get them locally, visit the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s website.

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