LAUSD Student Athletes Face Halloween Deadline To Get Vaccinated Or Risk Being Unable To Play

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Thousands of student athletes in the Los Angeles Unified School District have just days to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk being unable to participate in sports.

Under LAUSD guidelines, students ages 12 and older who take part in sports programs, including band, must receive their second doze of the Pfizer vaccine by Sunday, Oct. 31.

According to numbers obtained by the Los Angeles Times, approximately 70% of LAUSD students who take part in sports-related programs had received at least one dose as of Monday.

Initially, LAUSD had required that all students taking part in extracurricular activities be vaccinated by Oct. 31. However, the Times reports the district dropped that requirement, and is only holding sports-related programs to that mandate.

Regardless, all LAUSD students ages 12 and older will soon be required to be vaccinated in order to attend in-person classes. Under a policy approved by the LAUSD Board of Education last month, all students 12 and older will be required to receive their first Pfizer dose by Nov. 21, and their second by Dec. 19.

All LAUSD employees are required to be vaccinated. LAUSD previously reported that 97% of its administrators, 97% of its teachers and 95% of its classified supervisors had received at least one dose of the vaccine. Employees must get their second dose by Nov. 15, or risk losing their jobs.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a mandate earlier this month that all schoolchildren statewide, public or private, will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 once the FDA has given full approval of the vaccine for each age group. An FDA panel Tuesday is discussing whether to recommend emergency approval to the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.