KTLA

About 44,000 students haven’t met first COVID-19 vaccine deadline and risk being displaced from classroom: LAUSD

Sarginoor Kaur, 7, gets the COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Chelsea Meyer at Arleta High School on Nov. 8. Children in L.A. Unified schools who are 12 and older must be vaccinated by Jan. 10. Nearly 80% met Sunday’s first-dose deadline.(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

About 80% of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District are on track to comply with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, school district officials announced Monday, raising concerns about the potential for thousands of students to be displaced from in-person classes for the start of the spring semester on Jan. 10.

The figure represents substantial progress — and officials hope many more students have been vaccinated, but simply have not yet uploaded documentation to the school district. About 225,000 students ages 12 and older fall under the mandate, half of the district’s enrollment. The current data means that about 44,000 students have not met the deadline.


Sunday was the district’s announced deadline for students to get a first shot, although they could get a first dose as late as the first week in December and still have enough time to achieve maximum immunity by the beginning of the next term.

“Los Angeles Unified’s first and second dose deadlines for eligible students 12 and older are designed to ensure students receive the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccination before the holiday season,” said district spokesperson Shannon Haber. Students are on vacation this week for an extended Thanksgiving break.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.