NYC To Mandate COVID Vaccines Or Testing For Teachers

Chicago IL

26 July, 2021

2:50 PM

Description

By Christina Veiga, Chalkbeat Chicago: New York City teachers will be required to be vaccinated by the time school reopens in September, or be tested weekly, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. The city is grappling with rising infection rates due to the delta variant, lagging vaccinations, and a rapidly closing window of time to get teachers and eligible students vaccinated against COVID before classes are set to resume fully in-person on Sept. 13. The mandate comes on the heels of ramped up efforts to get young people vaccinated at summer school sites. Last week, city officials issued a similar directive that staff must be vaccinated or tested regularly at city-run hospitals and health clinics. "This is about our recovery. This is about what we need to do to bring back New York City. This is about keeping people safe," de Blasio said at a press conference. "In September, everything's going to come together. September is the pivot point of the recovery." There are just seven weeks before the first day of school — leaving less than two weeks of wiggle room for students and school staff to get their first dose of a two-dose shot and be fully vaccinated by the first day of school. The single-dose Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine only requires two weeks to be considered fully vaccinated. So far, about 60% of education department employees have had at least one dose of the vaccine. That figure does not include those who live or were vaccinated outside of the five boroughs, according to city officials. About 70% of New York City adults have received at least one shot. More than 226,000 of New York City's 12- to 17-year-olds — roughly 43% — have gotten at least one dose of the COVID vaccine. The vaccine isn't available yet for children under age 12. Over the past school year and during summer school, teachers and students already submit to regular testing in schools. It is unclear whether that will continue, or how those tests will factor into the vaccinate-or-test requirement — or whether unvaccinated staff will now be required to get tested outside of school. The teachers union on Monday seemed to endorse the city's plan. "Vaccination and testing have helped keep schools among the safest places in the city," the United Federation of Teachers said in a statement. "This approach puts the emphasis on vaccination but still allows for personal choice and provides additional safeguards through regular testing." Mark Cannizzaro, head of the union that represents principals and other school administrators, said in an interview with Chalkbeat that requiring vaccinations or regular testing for city employees "sounds reasonable." This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available. Alex Zimmerman, Reema Amin, and Pooja Salhotra contributed to this report. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here.