California will become the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
The statewide vaccine mandate for K-12 teachers and staff at both public and private schools, comes as schools have begun to re-open amid growing concerns of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Newsom announced the new policy Wednesday as he visited a San Francisco Bay area school that has already reopened after summer break. Several large school districts in the state have issued similar requirements in recent days, including San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose nd the Long Beach Unified school districts.
Governor Newsom says the new rules are intended to keep students safe, particularly those under 12 who can’t get vaccinated, and help kids from being exposed to the coronavirus and having to stay home from school.
Although vaccines have been widely available for months, just under 64% of eligible Californians are fully vaccinated, while nearly 10% are partially vaccinated, according to state data.
The highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus is driving a surge in COVID-19 cases across California and the country. Over the last week, about 6.4% of COVID-19 tests have come back positive in California.
The California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers say they support the rules.
(Photo reporting partner 10News)