California becomes first to require vaccines, tests for teachers and staff

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — 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, as schools return from summer break amid growing concerns about the highly contagious delta variant.

Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that the new policy applies to both public and private schools and will affect more than 800,000 employees, including about 320,000 public school teachers and a host of support staff such as cafeteria workers and cleaners, the state Department of Public Health said.

It will also apply to school volunteers.

Newsom announced the new policy at a San Francisco Bay Area school that reopened earlier this week to in-person classes.

Many California schools are back in session, with others starting in the coming weeks.

“We think this is the right thing to do, and we think this is a sustainable way to keeping our schools open and to address the number one anxiety that parents like myself have for young children,” said Newsom, who is a father of four.

“That is knowing that the schools are doing everything in their power to keep our kids safe.”

Several large school districts in the state have issued similar requirements in recent days, including San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Long Beach Unified.

California, like the rest of the country, has seen a troubling surge in COVID-19 infections because of the delta variant, which represents the vast majority of new cases.

It has affected children more than previous strains of the virus, prompting a growing number of teachers' unions to ease earlier opposition to vaccine mandates.

California's two largest teachers unions, both powerful political allies to the governor, said Wednesday they fully supported Newsom's policy.

The California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers both cited state and national polling that indicates nearly 90% of educators have been vaccinated but said the rising spread of the delta variant, particularly among children, makes the new policy necessary.

Children under 12 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.

“Educators want to be in classrooms with their students, and the best way to make sure that happens is for everyone who is medically eligible to be vaccinated, with robust testing and multi-tiered safety measures,” CTA President E. Toby Boyd said in a statement.

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