Newsom says schools can reopen even before all teachers are vaccinated

Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said schools can reopen without waiting for all teachers and education workers to be vaccinated for Covid-19. His remarks come despite demands from the California Teachers Association that teachers should be vaccinated before in-person instruction begins.

In a letter to Newsom last week, the state teachers union said vaccines are a “key element to safe in-person school reopening.” Teachers have voiced that though the governor has called for teachers to be prioritized for vaccines, inconsistent supply and lack of state coordination have prevented most counties from being able to vaccinate teachers en masse.

During a news conference Wednesday announcing two new community vaccination sites in Oakland and Los Angeles, Newsom stated that his stance on teacher vaccinations is aligned with that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Biden Administration. The CDC said Wednesday that vaccinations for teachers shouldn’t be a prerequisite for reopening schools, since data shows that social distancing and masking can significantly lower the risk of spread.

“We can safely reopen schools as we process a prioritization to our teachers of vaccinations and still keep our teachers, our paraprofessionals, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, janitors, who are essential to making our schools work and keeping our kids safe at the same time,” Newsom said.