D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed an order on Monday mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for adults who are regularly in schools and child care centers as well as student-athletes.
The order requires all adults who are regularly in schools and child care facilities in Washington, D.C., to get vaccinated before Nov. 1. Students age 12 and older will also be required to get vaccinated before the same date if they wish to participate in school-based extracurricular athletics.
“This new mandate requirement, without a test-out option, will add another critical layer to the robust measures we have implemented to reopen our schools and keep our child care centers safe,” Bowser said in her announcement. “We also know that sports are a high-risk activity. Requiring athletes to get vaccinated will ensure they not only stay safe but also stay in the classroom and are able to participate in school-based extracurricular athletics.”
Adults and student-athletes will not be able to get tested weekly in lieu of getting vaccinated, but the order does say that exemptions for religious and medical reasons will be granted.
D.C. is not the first city to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine in schools. Los Angeles’s school board voted on Sept. 10 to require students age 12 and up to get fully vaccinated by Jan. 10, 2022. New York City required all school staff members to get vaccinated by Sept. 27.
Data show COVID-19 cases within schools have steadily decreased among both staff and students since Aug. 30, when the school year began. More than half of D.C. residents, or 58.6%, are fully vaccinated, according to data from the city.
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The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
