All staff in New York City public school will need to be vaccinated by the end of September. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take over the country, steps are being taken to make sure everyone is safe and protected. While there are COVID-19 vaccines available for those over the age of 12, there is still a large group of people who cannot receive the vaccine who are either too young or are medically unable to receive the vaccine. Since schools can be considered a “hot spot,” work is being done across the country to ensure that everyone is safe.
According to CNBC and New York Post, New York City has now mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for public school teachers and staff. This comes immediately following the full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine for those over the age of 16.
A press briefing was held on Monday, August 23rd, and the announcement was made that all staff must receive at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by September 27th. Some mandates will allow workers to forego the vaccine in lieu of regular testing, however, this will not apply here.
Staff will not have the option to opt-out of the vaccine by submitting regular negative tests. New York City is the largest school district in the entire country, and they serve about 1.1 million students across 1,900 schools. Given the high volume of students, it is vital that they remain safe, especially when a lot of the students are under the age of 12 and cannot receive the vaccine. Dr. Dave Chokshi is the city’s health commissioner and he stated that the vaccines are a critical strategy to making sure children can get back in school, and making sure that they can stay there.
There are nearly 148,000 staff members who will now be required to be vaccinated by this mandate. This also covers all staff and not just teachers. Office staff, custodians, food service staff, and security guards will all be required to receive the vaccine. Randi Weingarten is the president of the American Federation of Teachers, and she has also said that she is in support of vaccine mandates for educators, especially since the Delta variant is showing to be more detrimental to children. According to data, 90% of teachers across the country are already vaccinated, which is a great start, and New York City is hoping to add to that percentage.
Sources: CNBC, New York Post