California will be the first U.S. state to require all teachers and school staff to be vaccinated or have a urinalysis test each week when classes resume after summer vacation, the Associated Press reported.
The reason is growing fears of a highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, Governor Gavin Newsom said yesterday. He announced the new policy at a school in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the school year has already begun this week with classes. More schools in the state will resume classes in the coming weeks. “I think this is the right decision and a sure way to keep our schools open, while at the same time taking into account what worries parents of young children like me the most,” the governor said.
Some schools in the state have already taken similar measures, which are now coming into force at the state level, Reuters notes.
The state’s two largest teachers’ unions, the California Teachers’ Association and the California Teachers’ Federation, said they fully supported the governor’s policies. Masks at school – for both teachers and students, are now mandatory. In California, as in the rest of the United States, there has been a worrying increase in covid infections. Most cases are with the delta variant, which is more common among children than the other variants.
In the last few weeks, Newsom has ordered all health workers to be vaccinated. U.S. employees also have to get vaccinated or get tested every week.
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