High school student athletes could be required to be vaccinated to play sports: 'We want to make everybody as safe as possible'

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The Hawaii Department of Education may require high school student athletes to receive a COVID-19 vaccination before being allowed to play sports. | Pixabay

In an effort to protect public high school students, a vaccination for COVID-19 may be required before they will be allowed to engage in extracurricular activities.

School officials said the Department of Education (DOE) will be announcing the requirement soon, as high school football season is set to commence this week.  

“Personally, it’s a good idea because we want to make everybody as safe as possible, and participating in extracurricular activities, the contact is so much closer, especially with sports,” McKinley High School Principal Ron Okamura told KHON2. President William McKinley High School is located in Honolulu.

Okamura also pointed out that students are currently required to get vaccinated for other infectious diseases to attend school, according to KHON2. Hence, it makes sense to compel student athletes to get the COVID-19 vaccine. And if there are cases of students who need to be exempted, he suggested that they should be regularly tested instead.

While he agrees with the idea, he challenged it with a question, in case a student or a coach is not willing to be vaccinated: “There’s gonna be some kind of testing that has to be done. And my question comes to everybody is, okay, it’s great if we offer testing, but who pays for it?”

Some private schools have been requiring their students to get vaccinated. Parker School on the Big Island is requiring all of its students and staff to be fully vaccinated by Friday, Oct. 1, KHON2 reported.