Newsom
© Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom
Hours after both San Francisco and Oakland officials announced mandatory vaccinations or weekly testing for teachers, Gov. Gavin Newsom was traveling to the East Bay to expand the mandate to all school employees within California, according to published reports.

Politico and the Los Angeles Times both reported that the announcement would be coming on Wednesday while Newsom pays a visit to the Oakland Unified School District which began 2021-2022 classes on Monday.

California would be the first state in the country to issue a such a mandate amid a surge in delta variant COVID cases and schools reopening to wide scale in-class instruction for the first time since March 2020. At the nearby Pleasanton Unified School District, officials said they were prepared for such an announcement. Patrick Gannon, spokesperson for the district, said:
"It's not something that is entirely unexpected to us. We have spent the last year and a half providing opportunities for both our staff and our students to get vaccinated if they were able to."
School employees will join state workers and healthcare workers who had previously been required for vaccinations or weekly testing.

The Los Angeles Unified School District on its own is requiring weekly testing of all students and employees, whether or not they are vaccinated. Sacramento and Long Beach, meanwhile, have already implemented vaccination or testing measures.

In San Francisco, school officials announced that all district staff would be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or undergo weekly testing starting next month. SFUSD officials announced Tuesday that the requirement for the district's nearly 10,000 employees would be effective September 7. The district has urged workers to submit their proof of vaccination by August 31. So far, more than half of employees have submitted their vaccination status.

Superintendent Vincent Matthews said in a statement:
"Given that we are in the midst of rising cases and new variants in our community, a vaccine requirement is a necessary step to keeping our students, staff and families safe."
Board of Education President Gabriela Lopez said the vaccine requirement is backed by members of the commission:
"We want to do everything in our power to keep our community safe and keep school buildings open for learning and connection. The pandemic is unpredictable but we have learned so much along the way and we know that vaccines remain highly effective — vaccinated people are much less likely to get severe symptoms that result in hospitalization or death from COVID."
President Cassondra Curiel, head of the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), the union representing the city's public school teachers, voiced her support of the vaccination requirement as well.
"As we all return to school buildings in person, we are glad that we can move forward welcoming students and families with excitement and ensuring the safest conditions possible in the midst of this continuing pandemic."
Christy Samson says she's sending her 5-year-old daughter to kindergarten in San Francisco with more confidence, after the district's announcement.
"Thankfully living in San Francisco people are pretty open to vaccinating and I'm thankful for that due to the fact that my 5-year-old has asthma, and she cannot be vaccinated. So I'm okay with that right now and I really want to encourage people to get vaccinated."
UCSF Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said:
"The top three ways to protect the kids are vaccines, vaccines, and vaccines. And since they are not eligible for vaccines yet, the under 12 set that is, the best way to protect them is to form a wall of immunity around them."
Oakland school officials issued a similar mandate that of Sept. 7 staff, contractors and volunteers must be vaccinated or be tested weekly.