LA extends deadline for school employee vaccinations amid staffing shortage

• One in five employees remained unvaccinated as of Sept. 27.

Details: Employees who have secured at least one dose by Oct. 15 will be allowed to continue working as long as they get their second shot by Nov. 15.

• Employees without a record of any vaccination by Oct. 15 will not be "subject to separation from District service" before Nov. 1. They'll remain paid until Oct. 31.

What they're saying: "We don’t want people to be out of jobs," interim superintendent Megan Reilly told the Times. "Our employees are one of the strongest assets that we have."

• Reilly stressed, however, that "we’re absolutely adamant about keeping our schools the safest possible environment — and vaccinations are clearly the pathway to keeping them safe."

The big picture: The district issued its mandate in early August, requiring its roughly 73,000 staff members to get the vaccine by Oct. 15 or face unpaid leave or termination.

• LAUSD is allowing religious or medical exemptions, though it's unclear how many have been issued.
• The vaccine mandate was endorsed by the teachers union and some other employee unions, though Local 99 of Service Employees International Union, which represents most non-teaching employees and lower-wage workers, pressed the district to extend the vaccine deadline in recent contract negotiations.

Worth noting: In September, LAUSD became the first major school district to require vaccines for students.