COVID vaccine mandate deadline delayed for Sacramento city teachers, school staff
The Sacramento City Unified School District extended its deadline for teachers and staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19, giving employees more time to comply with the rule.
The move follows a similar vaccine mandate extension the district issued early last week for students age 12 and over. As of Monday morning, about 400 staff members, or roughly 8% of its employees, are reportedly unvaccinated.
The original deadline for vaccination was Monday. The new deadline is Feb. 28.
District officials said that staff members failing to get vaccinated would result in disciplinary action, which could range from unpaid leave to termination.
“As was noted when the district extended time for students to meet the requirement, this deadline extension allows our district more time to continue to navigate the daily demands of the omicron surge while continuing our outreach efforts for staff vaccination reporting,” said district spokesman Al Goldberg in an email.
Sacramento City Unified was the first school district in the county to implement a vaccine mandate for eligible students and staff last fall. An executive order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October will require vaccinations among eligible students and school staff at the start of the 2022-23 academic year.
Of the roughly 5,000 eligible staff members in the district, about 84% have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the district’s dashboard. About 7%, or 350 staff members, are unvaccinated but filed a religious exemption. Less than 1% are either partially vaccinated, or filed a medical exemption.
The district defines fully vaccinated as both doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Students and staff also need to have finished a two-week waiting period to ensure maximum immunity.
Students and staff seeking an exemption must file a form and submit it to the district. People exempt from the vaccine must undergo regular testing.
The district hosts free vaccination clinics regularly, including at the district’s office the Serna Center. For a list of dates and times, visit Sacramento City Unified’s website.