Long Beach City College has announced that for the Fall 2021 semester, all employees and students taking in-person classes will be required to provide proof of vaccination or be regularly tested for COVID-19.
What's happening:
LBCC's announcement came a day after the California State University system made a similar announcement; it will require all faculty, staff, and students who use campus facilities at any university location will be required to be immunized against the coronavirus.
The City of Long Beach and the state of California will require public employees and healthcare workers to be vaccinated or take weekly tests for the coronavirus.
Long Beach Unified School District Superintendent Jill Baker said LBUSD is not currently planning to conduct "COVID Survellance testing for staff or student," but Superintendent Baker stated that a potential vaccination or testing mandate is "under consideration."
What they're saying:
“This was not an easy decision to make but LBCC made it to do our best to keep our students, colleagues, our families, and friends as safe as possible during this pandemic,” said Long Beach Community College District Interim Superintendent-President Dr. Mike Muñoz.
According to a city memo, despite being one of the essential workers and gaining priority access to the vaccine, only 56% of Long Beach Police Department personnel are vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Why it matters:
Long Beach will require city employees to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing to show they have tested negative, Mayor Robert Garcia announced Tuesday.
Based on the data, over 4,000 City employees are fully vaccinated, with less than 1,600 that are not or prefer not to disclose their status.
About 51% sworn-in police officers have self reported being innoculated against COVID-19.
Nationally the vaccination rates among police officers are lower than those of the general public, per The Hill.
But wait, there's more:
66% of Long Beach Fire Department employees and 62% of Public Works employees have self-reported being vaccinated.
Nearly half of the Los Angeles Police Department remains unvaccinated and are currently dealing with a surge of cases as LAPD Chief Micheal Moore told the civilian Police Commission that the department had 33 personnel test positive for the coronavirus, according to the LA Times.
347 Long Beach city employees have stated they are not vaccinated and an additional 1,199 are listed as "Prefer not to disclose."
Read the memo heare:
California State University (CSU) announced it will require all faculty, staff, and students who use campus facilities at any university location will be required to be immunized against the Coronavirus.
Why it matters:
The CSU system is the nation's largest four-year higher education system, with 23 campuses, 56,000 faculty and staff, and 486,000 students.
CSU says thoses returning must certify their vaccination no later than Sept. 30.
There are medical and religious exemptions under the CSU's COVID-19 vaccination policy.
A fond look back:
The school system announced in April of 2020 that once the FDA approved "one or more of the vaccines," CSU would require anyone "accessing campus facilities at any university location to be immunized" against COVID-19.
In reaction to the pandemic, classes at all CSU campuses were conducted virtually.
What he's saying:
“The current surge in COVID cases due to the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant is an alarming new factor that we must consider as we look to maintain the health and well-being of students, employees and visitors to our campuses this fall," said CSU Chancellor Joseph I. Castro in the statement.