The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) Board of Education voted at its Wednesday meeting to extend the district’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate deadline for students ages 12 years and older to Feb. 18. The original deadline was Jan. 3, which is the first day of instruction following the winter break.
The extended deadline follows district data that showed that 4,944 of eligible students have been confirmed to be fully vaccinated as of Monday, just 40.6 percent of eligible students. The remaining students are either partially vaccinated, unvaccinated and/or haven’t responded to report their vaccination status as of Dec. 13.
Meanwhile, the district’s Virtual Academy (Independent Study), a program that will serve the vast majority of unvaccinated students, already has a waitlist, the district said.
“While staff have been working hard to increase the Virtual Academy capacity in anticipation of a higher demand for those services, a significant increase of students in that program January, potentially in the thousands, will be difficult – if not impossible – to serve under the current model,” the district said.
WCCUSD Superintendent Kenneth Chris Hurst said families should continue to operate “with a sense of urgency to vaccinate students as quick as possible.”
“Experts agree that the fastest way out of the pandemic is vaccination, and the safety of our students and staff is our top priority,” the superintendent said in a note to the district community. “We will continue to partner with Contra Costa County Health Services to provide vaccine clinics on our school sites in 2022. Click here to see Vaccine Clinic Resources.”
Students can submit their vaccination card here.
For more information on WCCUSD’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, visit here.
