What to Know
- A mass vaccination site for teachers opens Monday on the grounds of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom has mandated that 10% of all vaccine supply received in the state be immediately set aside for teachers, child care workers and other school staff.
- Vaccinations at LA County sites were expanded Monday to essential workers in education and child care, food and agriculture, and law enforcement and emergency services.
A large-scale coronavirus vaccination site on the grounds of Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium will serve to vaccinate teachers and school staff as Los Angeles charts a path to reopening classrooms.
The site at the NFL stadium will be a collaborative operation that includes the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Rams, Hollywood Park and the city of Inglewood. Beginning Monday, doses will be expanded in Los Angeles County to essential workers in education and child care, food and agriculture, and law enforcement and emergency services.
Also on Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders announced an agreement aimed at getting most public schoolchildren back in classrooms by the end of March. Under the deal, school districts could get up to $6.6 billion if they reopen classrooms by March 31. To get the money, schools must return to in-person instruction at least through second grade.
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Link: See California's Safe Schools Reopening Map
Much attention during the expansion of the vaccination effort is likely to be placed on the speed of inoculating teachers, with pressure mounting to reopen school campuses for in-person instruction. Many teachers' unions, including the one representing Los Angeles Unified School District educators, are pushing for school staff to be vaccinated before in-person classes resume.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom has mandated that 10% of all vaccine supply received in the state be immediately set aside for teachers, child care workers and other school staff. But dividing the education allocation among the 80 school districts in Los Angeles County will be a weekly challenge.
Of the doses allocated to the education sector each week, 9% will be automatically directed to private schools in the county, reflecting the percentage of county students they serve.
The 80 individual school districts in the county -- excluding those in Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own health departments -- will be divided into five groups. Remaining available doses will be divided among those groups based on a formula that evaluates factors of overall student enrollment; the percentage of students living in poverty -- based on those eligible for free or reduced-price lunches; COVID case rates in each community; and whether schools have already been providing in-person services for higher-need students.
The formula means the LAUSD -- the second-largest school district in the nation -- will likely receive about 40% of available education-sector doses each week.