The D.C. Council voted Tuesday in favor of emergency legislation that would extend the deadline for students to receive their COVID-19 vaccine until September 2023.
Students in the District currently have until January to get the COVID-19 vaccination, but thousands of D.C. public school students have not received the required vaccine. The requirement is a part of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s “No Shot, No School” policy for all routine immunizations.
“I think it is in the best interest of our students to delay enforcement of this provision,” DC Councilmember Christina Henderson said.
Council Chair Phil Mendelson announced a public hearing will be held early next year. Based on that hearing, the deadline could get extended again or the requirement could be eliminated altogether.
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In a written statement, the District’s Deputy Mayor for Education, Paul Kihn said, “We have heard from many school leaders about the challenges of tracking enforcement for COVID-19 vaccinations. We support the Council’s action to give our families and schools additional time to come into compliance.”
Councilmembers Brooke Pinto and Mary Cheh did not support extending the deadline.
“I don’t think we should be extending the date of compliance for students to receive the COVID-19 vaccines until next school year,” Pinto said.
“We are sending a very, very bad signal here,” Cheh said.
D.C. public school students are still required to have proof of all routine immunizations to attend school in the 2022-2023 school year.
