Monday is an important deadline for students in the San Diego Unified School District if they want to comply with the district's vaccine mandate.
Under that mandate, students 16 and older must be fully vaccinated when the second semester begins if they want to attend in-person instruction. If not fully vaccinated by the start of spring semester, they will either have to do online learning or be home school.
“There is a little bit of wiggle room,” said SDUSD board trustee Richard Barrera.
Even if students miss Monday’s deadline, they still can still get their first dose, get the process going, and schedule the second dose.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
“What we don't want to do is have… students who have not gotten their first shot by December 20 to just assume that they're not going to make it. We’re going to give multiple opportunities for students to make it and be able to continue to attend school in-person in the spring semester.”
At this point, Barrera said of the 14,000 over the age of 16, roughly 3,000 students, or 21%, have yet to get their first shot.
“Obviously, we want students to meet this deadline,” said Barrera. “If their students are not vaccinated by the time the second semester begins in late January, they will not be able to attend school in person.”
