UPDATE: San Diego Superior Court Judge John S. Meyer ruled on Monday against the SDUSD's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students 16 and older. Prior to the tentative ruling, students in that age group were to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 20 in order to attend in-person instruction for the upcoming spring semester.
More details on the newly announced ruling can be found here.
Previous report prior to judge's 9 a.m. ruling:
Students at least 16 years or older who are part of the San Diego Unified School District had until Monday to have had their COVID-19 vaccines if they wish to attend school in-person next semester.
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Under a new mandate introduced by the district, students must be fully vaccinated by the start of the spring semester to attend classes in person. Monday marked the deadline to reach full vaccination status by Dec. 20 as set by the school district.
Those who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the beginning of spring semester will have to continue their studies with online learning or be homeschooled. SDUSD Board Trustee Richard Barrera said, however, that the district will work with students to ensure they’ll be able to return to their classes.
“There is a little bit of wiggle room,” he said.
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“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,” Barrera explained. “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.”
As of last week, about 3,000 students of the eligible population were still unvaccinated. In an effort to make the shots widely accessible, the district made vaccines available at different schools and introduced a mobile vaccine clinic that would travel to different campuses.
To see available appointments for a COVID-19 vaccine, click here.
