Details re Biden Vaccine Plan and Education Implications

September 10, 2021

Here’s what Biden’s Vaccine Plan says and what we know (so far). We will update the blog and app with more details as we learn them over the next 48 hours.

The Biden Administration plan does the following:

• Requires staff of Head Start programs, DOD schools, Bureau of Indian Educations schools to be vaccinated
• Calls on all states to adopt vaccine mandates for all school employees
• Creates a new grant program, Project SAFE (Supporting America’s Families and Educators), to restore funding withheld by state leaders who oppose efforts like mask requirements, virtual learning, etc. The funding can also be used to backfill salaries for district leaders who are implementing masking, etc. 
• Providing new resources so students and school staff can be tested regularly and beefing up vaccine testing processes/systems. 
• Providing every resource to the FDA to support review of applications for vaccines for <12

Here’s what we know so far about how it impacts states/districts directly. While the president’s vaccine mandate does not apply broadly to all schools, the Biden administration will issue a rule through the Department of Labor that will apply to the 26 states with OSHA plans (including TN, SC, AZ, KY and VA). Teachers in these states will have to be vaccinated OR submit to weekly testing. To check on your state’s OSHA plan, please refer to this map: https://www.osha.gov/stateplans.

Check out the Congressional Research Service (CRS)  report, OSHA Jurisdiction Over Public Schools and Other State and Local Government Entities: COVID-19 Issues.  

There is no authority to mandate vaccines for children at the federal level, so the administration is strongly encouraging states/districts to adopt COVID vaccine mandates for students 12 and over.