Los Angeles Mandates Vaccines for Students 12 and Older

The decision by the second-largest school district in the country will increase safety in the classroom, but is likely to draw legal challenges.

Los Angeles is the first major school district in the United States to mandate coronavirus vaccines for students 12 and older who are attending class in person. With the Delta variant ripping across the country, the district’s Board of Education voted, 6-0, to pass the measure on Thursday afternoon. The Los Angeles Unified School District is the second largest in the nation, and the mandate would eventually apply to more than 460,000 students, including some enrolled at independent charter schools located in district buildings. The interim superintendent, Megan Reilly, said at Thursday’s board meeting that student vaccination was one way to ensure that the district’s classrooms would be able to remain open. Los Angeles had some of the country’s most extended school closures last year.