News About Governor’s Announcement Regarding Vaccine Mandate Sometime in 2022

TO:  Da Vinci Families and Staff
FROM:  Matthew Wunder, CEO/Superintendent

October 2, 2021

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced yesterday that all elementary through high school students will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine once it gains final approval from the U.S. government for different age groups.
 
Da Vinci Schools is required to follow all COVID-19 mandates from our state and local health authorities in order to operate. Therefore, we will have a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place upon the full safety approvals of the vaccine for each age group as directed by the state.
 
Currently, the status of each age group’s safety approval of the vaccine is as follows:
  • Ages 16+: Vaccine fully approved following rigorous safety testing process
  • Ages 12-15: Vaccine approved for emergency authorization
  • Ages 5-11: Not yet approved for emergency vaccine authorization
According to the Governor’s office, the vaccine requirement is expected to take effect at the start of the semester following full vaccine approval of that grade span sometime in 2022. Typically, full approval comes about 6 months after emergency approval. Da Vinci is awaiting further clarification of the timelines for the requirements for our students.
 
Some local health jurisdictions and local school districts are implementing their own vaccine mandates ahead of a statewide requirement based on their local circumstances. Da Vinci is awaiting further information from our local health jurisdiction, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. While LACDPH may decide to implement a mandate sooner, currently our plan is that Da Vinci will follow the directive from the state, and will require vaccinations by the semester following approvals by age group. Should LACDPH mandate a different timeline, we will share that information promptly.
 
We know our families may have further questions at this time. This situation is evolving and more information will be shared in the coming weeks. For now, if you have questions, please direct them to info@davincischools.org. We will compile these questions and seek to answer them in further communications as we receive additional information from our health authorities.
 
Thank you for your continued support. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.
 
Para obtener este anuncio en español por favor mande un correo electrónico con su solicitud a info@davincischools.org. Gracias!