When Oakland Students Need to be Vaccinated
OUSD pushed back the deadline of vaccine requirements for children aged 12 and up to February (previously, it was January). (Children must be fully vaccinated with two shots of the Pfizer vaccine).
However, the district may still be in a conundrum.
Current data from the district shows that 5,688 students, or 37% of those 12 and older, are not vaccinated based on their records. Children aged 5 through 11 are also eligible for the COVID vaccine, but they are currently not required to receive it.
Most, if not all, Oakland-located charter schools are also following the same mandate that OUSD set.
By February 1, 2022, students need to either: show proof of vaccination, be exempt based on personal belief or medical reasons (which needs a doctor’s approval), sign up for the independent studies program, or be homeschool.
Update: article has been updated to include a photo of the current OUSD dashboard image of vaccination rate among students 12 years and older, as well as more updated numbers on vaccination rate within the article.
Momo Chang is a freelance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the Oakland Voices Co-Director. Her work focuses on healthcare, immigration, education, Asian American communities, food and culture. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune. Momo has received journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for investigative reporting and the Asian American Journalists Association, among others. Her work has appeared in the East Bay Express, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, and The New York Times. Momo is primarily a print journalist who also produces audio and visual stories for documentary film and radio. She is a Senior Contributing Editor for Hyphen and formerly the Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).
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