Los Angeles is set to become the first major school district in the US to mandate its students be vaccinated against the coronavirus before January - or be barred from attending class in-person.

The proposal would require all 414,340 of its 12- to 18-year-old students to be fully vaccinated, barring medical exemption, by the end of the year in order to attend in-person learning.

The measure, which is expected to easily pass, thrusts the nation's second largest school system with 600,000 students to the forefront of the debate about whether it should be mandatory for children to be vaccinated.

So far, nearly 58 percent, or 239,515 of the eligible students in Los Angeles County have been vaccinated, according to the county Department of Health. Kids under 12 are not eligible for the vaccine.

Since reopening in mid-August, the LA school district has been testing its students and staff weekly, with strict masking and social distancing requirements, and has so far reported 1,356 positive cases, with only two believed to have been transmitted in school facilities. 

Under the proposal, most students would have until November 21 to receive their first dose and must get their second by December 19 the LA Times reported.

Students participating in sports would need to get their shots earlier, and would be required to have their first dose by October 3, and their second by October 31.