OPSB Passes Policy Requiring All Its Employees to Receive COVID-19 Booster Shots

(New Orleans – January 20, 2022) — All Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) employees will now be required to receive a booster shoot, thanks to a policy passed unanimously by the OPSB this evening.

The board amended its current COVID-19 Vaccination policy, to include a mandate that all School Board employees receive any of the COVID-19 booster shots recommended by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), in addition to being fully vaccinated, no later than February 4, 2022. The mandate will not apply to any employees who have been granted an exemption.

Eligible employees will need to provide proof of having received the booster shot. Any employee who is not eligible, under CDC guidelines, to receive a booster shot by February 4, 2022, shall obtain the booster within fourteen (14) days of becoming eligible. This booster shot mandate will apply to any boosters that are currently recommended by the CDC and any additional boosters that may be recommended by the CDC in the future.

According to the CDC, for those that have been fully vaccinated, booster shots are important because over time the effectiveness of vaccines lessen with the introduction of variants and changes to variants.

Data from clinical trials shows booster shots increase the immune response in trial participants who finished a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna primary series 6 months earlier or who received a J&J/Janssen single-dose vaccine 2 months earlier. With an increased immune response, people should have improved protection against getting infected with COVID-19. For Pfizer-BioNTech and J&J/Janssen, clinical trials also showed that a booster shot helped prevent severe disease, per the CDC.

The recent emergence of the Omicron variant further emphasizes the importance of vaccination, boosters, and prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19.

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About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district's administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.

For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.