With The Imposition Of A Vaccination Mandate, Los Angeles Schools Choose Safety Above Politics

Some school boards are more well-known for their disputes than for their cooperation. However, in Los Angeles, the school administration and superintendent have come together to fulfill their joint duty to safeguard kids from the increasing number of Covid-19 instances among children.LAUSD has implemented a number of policies in recent weeks to ensure that students return to school in a safe environment. These policies include government-mandated mask-wearing, weekly running tests for students and staff, and a requirement that all district employees have received their full vaccinations by October 15.

Los Angeles Schools Choose Safety Above Politics

And, as of today, those rules include a mandate for all eligible LAUSD kids to get a vaccination. Following a unanimous School board decision, children aged 12 and old are required to be completely vaccinated even by the end of the school year, while kids who qualify for exemptions will have the choice to participate in an independent learning program instead of school.

 When it comes to children’s health, safety, and well-being, my number one responsibility as the medical director of the Unified School District Los Angeles is to put their needs first. And, as a doctor, I am well aware that vaccinations represent one of the most significant advances in medical science in recent history.

A major reason why those of us who are raising children in the United States do not have to be concerned about illnesses such as diphtheria, smallpox, or polio in their children has to do with vaccinations. Finally, as a mother of 2 children under the age of twelve, one of whom is a second-grade regular student in the Los Angeles Unified School District. 

Los Angeles Unified School System, which serves more than 600,000 students, is the country’s 2nd largest school district. However, it is the first large school system in the US to mandate the vaccination for students to attend in-person classes. This courageous move by our school board is based on solid reasoning and scientific evidence.

It is one that I hope will set off a trend throughout the nation and across the globe that encourages people to take social responsibility more seriously. As a result of vaccinations, our school board, as well as superintendent, recognize that classroom instruction can be restored to the highest level of safety while also recognizing that it is the correct thing to do for societies and children, particularly for those who are too young to obtain a vaccine.

The mandate from the Los Angeles Unified School District couldn’t have come at a better time. This summer, we’ve observed an increase in the number of children being admitted to hospitals throughout the nation because of Covid-19. More than 5 million children have screened positive for Covid-19 since the outbreak began, as per the AAP, with 243,000 new cases reported in the last week alone, as of September 9.

This is not just occurring as a result of the intensity of the Covid-19 Delta form but also as a result of the increased transmission of the virus from uninfected adults and adolescents, as previously stated. We’ve seen terrible pictures of very young kids in the critical care unit who were intubated for no apparent reason other than the fact that they were unable to get vaccinations. We’ve also seen pictures of adolescents who are vaccine-eligible who are suffering the same thing.