Vaccines

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the health and policy aspects of vaccines and vaccination

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vaccine mandate tracker
Where Teachers Are Required to Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19
Track the states mandating COVID-19 shots for teachers, the states banning such mandates, and the states asking local officials to decide.
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Principal and District Superintendent Bonnie Lower takes the temperature of a student at Willow Creek School as the school reopened, Thursday, May 7, 2020, in Willow Creek, Mont.
Bonnie Lower, a principal and district superintendent in Willow Creek, Mont., checks the temperature of a student as Willow Creek School reopened for in-person instruction in the spring.
Ryan Berry/Bozeman Daily Chronicle via AP
School & District Management How 'Vaccine Discrimination' Laws Make It Harder for Schools to Limit COVID Spread
In Montana and Ohio, the unvaccinated are a protected class, making it tough to track and contain outbreaks, school leaders say.
Sarah D. Sparks, September 21, 2021
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4 min read
Mariah Vaughn, a 15-year-old Highland Park student, prepares to receive a COVID-19 vaccine during the vaccine clinic at Topeka High School on Monday, Aug. 9, 2021.
Mariah Vaughn, 15, a student at Highland Park High School in Topeka, Kan., prepares to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at her school in August.
Evert Nelson/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP
School & District Management From Our Research Center Educators' Support for COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates Is Rising Dramatically
Nearly 60 percent of educators say students who are old enough to receive COVID vaccines should be required to get them to attend school.

Holly Kurtz, September 16, 2021
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4 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School & District Management Opinion New Polling Shows the K-12 COVID Fights Aren’t Going Anywhere
Teachers, administrators, and school boards will continue to be squeezed between two angry, distrustful camps when it comes to COVID-19.
Rick Hess, September 13, 2021
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4 min read
Image of a band-aid being placed on the arm.
iStock/Getty
Law & Courts Can They Do That? Questions Swirl Around COVID-19 School Vaccine Mandates
With at least one large school district adopting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, here is a look at the legal landscape for such a requirement.
Mark Walsh, September 10, 2021
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5 min read
Nurse Sara Muela, left, administers the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to educator Rebecca Titus at a vaccination site setup for teachers and school staff at the Berks County Intermediate Unit in Reading, Pa., on March 15, 2021.
Nurse Sara Muela administers a COVID-19 vaccine to educator Rebecca Titus at a vaccination site for at the Berks County Intermediate Unit in Reading, Pa.
Matt Rourke/AP
Federal How Biden Will Mandate Teacher Vaccines, Testing in Some States That Don't Require Them
President Joe Biden's COVID-19 plan will create new teacher vaccination and testing requirements in some states through worker safety rules.
Evie Blad, September 10, 2021
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4 min read
In this Monday, May 24, 2021, photo high school student Alex Bugarin, 13, is vaccinated at a school-based COVID-19 vaccination clinic for students 12 and older at the LAUSD San Pedro High School John M. and Muriel Olguin Campus in San Pedro, Calif.
Alex Bugarin, 13, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a school-based vaccination clinic in San Pedro, Calif., last May.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
School & District Management COVID Vaccines Will Be Mandatory for Students in Nation's Second-Largest School District
In Los Angeles Unified, students 12 and older must be immunized to attend in person—a new layer in an already strict set of COVID protocols.
Catherine Gewertz, September 9, 2021
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9 min read
President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in Washington. Biden is announcing sweeping new federal vaccine requirements affecting as many as 100 million Americans in an all-out effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant.
President Joe Biden in a speech from the White House announces sweeping new federal vaccine requirements and other efforts in an renewed effort to stem the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andrew Harnik/AP
Federal Biden Pushes Schools to Expand COVID-19 Testing, Get More Teachers Vaccinated
President Joe Biden set teacher vaccine requirements for federally operated schools as part of a new effort to drive down COVID's spread.
Evie Blad, September 9, 2021
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7 min read
hopital stethescope 1222194507
Aleksandr Titov/iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being What the Research Says Child Hospitalizations Spike Under Delta, Particularly in Low-Vaccination States
Nationwide, the number of children and teens hospitalized due to COVID-19 has ballooned nearly tenfold since midsummer, new CDC data show.
Sarah D. Sparks, September 3, 2021
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2 min read
In this March 2, 2021, photo, a pharmacy technician loads a syringe with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination site in Portland, Maine.
In this March 2, 2021, photo, a pharmacy technician loads a syringe with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination site in Portland, Maine.
Robert F. Bukaty/AP
Student Well-Being Opinion COVID Is Not an Insignificant Risk to Children, Explain Two Pediatricians
Policymakers, school leaders, and school districts must encourage as many people as possible to get vaccinated, write two pediatricians.
Danny Benjamin & Kanecia Zimmerman, September 1, 2021
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3 min read
Teaching Profession Letter to the Editor Educators Have a Responsibility to Support the Common Good
A science teacher responds to another science teacher's hesitation to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
August 31, 2021
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1 min read
Illustration of two women, two men with speech bubbles above their heads containing different shaped gears and with coronavirus in the air around them.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Families & the Community Only Half of Parents Plan to Vaccinate Their Children, New Poll Finds
The percentage of parents willing to vaccinate their elementary school-aged children against COVID-19 was just 46 percent.
Sarah Schwartz, August 31, 2021
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7 min read
cgcs 2021 tracker
School & District Management Interactive Masks, Vaccines & Testing: How the Biggest City School Districts Are Operating This Year
This tracker follows key operating protocols and requirements for some of America’s largest school districts.
Tonya Harris, August 30, 2021
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1 min read
Grace John, who works at a school in San Lorenzo, gets a COVID-19 shot at a mobile vaccination clinic run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state in Hayward, Calif., on Feb. 19, 2021. California will become the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. The statewide vaccine mandate for K-12 educators comes as schools return from summer break amid growing concerns of the highly contagious delta variant.
Grace John, who works at a school in San Lorenzo, gets a COVID-19 shot at a mobile vaccination clinic in Hayward, Calif. California is among those states requiring all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
Terry Chea/AP
Teaching Profession With Vaccine Mandates on the Rise, Some Teachers May Face Discipline
With a vaccine now fully FDA-approved, more states and districts will likely require school staff get vaccinated. The logistics are tricky.
Madeline Will, August 23, 2021
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9 min read
Image of child being vaccinated
Getty
School & District Management Calif. School District to Require Vaccines for Eligible Students, in What May Be a First
Culver City's student vaccine mandate has the overwhelming support of parents, teachers, and staff, said the district superintendent.
Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, August 19, 2021
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4 min read
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