As the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of the Delta variant rages on, local updates regarding vaccinations, boosters, and cases have continued to develop.

   According to NBC 7 San Diego, “Students [and staff] age 16 and older would be required to be fully vaccinated by December 20 to participate in in-person learning and extracurricular activities. Otherwise, they can enroll to learn virtually.” The district also intends to potentially mandate vaccines for younger children at an “undetermined date,” depending on the timeline of FDA approval (nbcsandiego.com).

   According to Politico, United States Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is in support of a potential nationwide vaccine mandate in schools. He said, “Not only do I support it, but I’m encouraging states to come up with a plan to make sure it happens… I would like governors who hold those decisions to make those decisions now that [vaccines] are FDA-approved” (politico.com).

   Many have spoken up against vaccine mandates at schools. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “There’s scant evidence of whether children will need boosters or which vaccines might work best for them. And, at least so far, it appears that schools are able to open safely and prevent most transmission with masks and other protective efforts” (sfchronicle.com).

   The University of California, San Diego has begun to distribute third Pfizer booster shots to those 65 and older, immunocompromised, or high-risk, as long as it has been six months since they received their second Pfizer dose. According to the UCSD Health website, “UC San Diego Health offers COVID-19 booster vaccines to our immunocompromised patients and other patients who qualify, based on CDC guidelines” (health.ucsd.edu).

   Although the University is only offering the booster shot to patients at UCSD Health, they stated, “Eligible people may also find other convenient options, including local pharmacies, on the VaccineFinder site, the state’s MyTurn website or by contacting their primary care provider” (health.ucsd.edu).

   According to the San Diego Unified School District’s COVID-19 Dashboard, as of September 18, there are 99 active student cases and 20 active staff cases of the virus. There have been two outbreaks within the district since September 12 (sandiegounified.org).

   According to The New York Times COVID-19 case tracker, “Cases have decreased recently but are still very high. The number of hospitalized Covid patients has also fallen in the San Diego County area. Deaths have increased. The test positivity rate in San Diego County is relatively low, suggesting that testing capacity is adequate for evaluating COVID-19 spread in the area.”

   According to the Los Angeles Times, “66.4 precent of Californians have received at least one dose” and “about 85 percent of Americans will need to be vaccinated to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control” (latimes.com).   

    Junior Mia Gallo said, “Getting the vaccine keeps you and others safe.”