The Los Angeles Unified board of education has voted to require students 12 and older to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to attend in-person classes.

The Associated Press reports that the vote makes Los Angeles by far the largest of a very small number of districts with a vaccine requirement.

Under the vaccination plan, students 12 and up who participate in sports and other extracurricular activities need to get their two-shot sequence completed by the end of October. Others have until Dec. 19.

The district, which has about 600,000 students, already tests all students and employees every week, requires masking indoors and outdoors and has ordered employees to be vaccinated.

Los Angeles school board members overwhelmingly supported the plan, calling it a sound public health measure and a critical step to keep classrooms open for the in-person learning so essential for students.

“It is our moral, ethical, religious, political — pick a word — it’s our responsibility to protect the children under 12 who cannot get protected any other way,” Board member Jackie Goldberg said.