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Seattle School Board holds off on vote for statewide COVID-19 vaccine mandate

SEATTLE — The Seattle School Board is holding off on a vote that would push a requirement that all Washington state students get a COVID-19 vaccine after it gets full approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The board was expected to take up a resolution Wednesday that would ask the state to add the shot to the list of immunizations students are already required to receive if they attend public school.

If the board passed the measure, it would send a request to the state.

But Wednesday night, board members said they want more time to meet with communities of color.

“I want the headline to read we’re listening, we’re engaging, we’re taking it really seriously,” District 6 School Board Director Leslie Harris said.

But the board isn’t dropping the idea. It will meet back and possibly vote again Nov. 17.

Meanwhile, Seattle Public Schools, Lake Washington Schools and Highline Schools are just some the districts planning their own vaccination clinics.

Seattle has already promised to open some mass vaccination sites again to try to meet the demand.