Joshua Roberts/Getty Images
- Education Sec. Miguel Cardona said he favors requiring all teachers to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
- On the same day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he is requiring vaccines or weekly tests for teachers.
- Students are returning to school this month as concerns rise concerning the Delta variant.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
This month, students are starting their second school year amid a pandemic, but some people are still hesitant to get vaccinated even as the Delta variant surges. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wants to prevent cases from rising by requiring all teachers get vaccinated against COVID-19.
"I would favor the vaccine being required," Cardona said during a National Press Foundation event on Wednesday.
This marks a shift from Cardona's comments over the weekend on CBS's Face the Nation, when he urged teachers to get their shots voluntarily, but didn't say he would back a mandate.
A growing number of cities are requiring all teachers and school staff to get their vaccines before students return to school, including Denver and San Jose. And on Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state will require all teachers to be vaccinated or submit weekly COVID-19 testing results, with Newsom saying that "this is the right thing to do."
"And to address the number one anxiety that parents like myself have – I have four young children – and that is knowing that the schools are doing everything in their power to keep our kids safe, to keep our kids healthy," Newsom added.
People across the country have been refusing to get vaccinated for a number of unscientific reasons, including wrongly claiming the vaccine is experimental, causes autism, and even that it can make a person magnetic.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken extreme positions against requiring vaccines ahead of schools reopening, such as signing an order that would strip funding from schools that require masks, and another that banned vaccine passports in the state.
This week, DeSantis vowed to withhold the salaries of school board members who flouted the mask mandate, and a Broward County school official responded by telling the governor to "bring it." Biden told the press this that he was looking into getting money to affected Floridian educators, and Press Secretary Jen Psaki criticized DeSantis from the White House briefing room.
Cardona stressed that the vaccine is completely safe to use, and added that those who are reluctant to get their shots now might change their minds when the Food and Drug Administration approves them.
"I wouldn't have gotten the vaccine or had my children get it if I questioned whether or not it was safe," Cardona said.