Cal State LA students and faculty received a campus-wide email on April 14 stating that vaccinations were no longer required by the university.

The email said that “[e]ffective April 6, 2023, the revised policy strongly recommends vaccines as a safety measure to help prevent serious illness,” and that the new California State University policy “does not impact other health and safety measures, such as face masks, established by each campus. Students and employees must comply with these measures.”

Los Angeles County lifted its emergency protocols surrounding Covid-19 on March 31, shortly prior to the email being sent out.

As far as masks are concerned, Dr. Paul Kim, Cal State LA’s medical director, said in an email to the University Times that “[w]e are still evaluating our mask-wearing policies for Cal State LA.”

“Depending on any updates with Los Angeles County guidelines and the state of the pandemic, we will address any potential revision to policies prior to fall semester 2023,” Kim said.

Cal State LA abides by the guidelines of L.A. County COVID-19 procedures, but Kim said the university can make certain decisions about COVID-19 protocols on its own, depending on the conditions of the choices.

“Our university may implement policies that don’t align with the L.A. County guidelines, but only if they are more conservative,” Kim said. “However, we can not make policies that are less conservative.”

An example of this, Kim said, could be requiring mask-wearing on campus when L.A. County doesn’t.

Johanna Avalos, a sociology major at Cal State LA, is careful about COVID-19 precautions since her father has a weak immune system.

“For me, I’d still probably wear it just because I don’t want to get my loved ones sick or anything,” she said.

“I think [masking] should stay mandatory, at least in classes,” Avalos said, because of “group discussions and group work…A lot of people still have family members that are sick or parents that you live with.”

To stay up to date, the Cal State LA community can review CSU’s new policy on their website and check the university’s Health Watch webpage for more information.