The Long Beach School District will resume K-5 instruction starting March 29, Mayor Robert Garcia announced Wednesday.
“All teachers and school staff will have had an opportunity to be vaccinated with both doses before reopening,” Garcia said on social media.
Long Beach began vaccinating teachers and school staff in late January, ahead of Los Angeles County due to the city having its own health department. At the time, Garcia told NBCLA that he believed Long Beach was the first city in California to advance to vaccinating teachers and educators.
Earlier Wednesday, Los Angeles County public health officials said the county would open vaccinations to the next eligible group–which includes teachers and school staff–starting March 1. However, LA County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said that the lack of vaccine supply would create a stressed situation for March and hoped that April would see more progress on the supply side.
Long Beach’s vaccination effort appears to be further along than the county, evidenced by the mayor’s announcement that kindergarten through fifth grade instruction will begin March 29.
