Newsom Mandates Vaccines For School Children
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today the first vaccine mandate in the United States for schoolchildren. His plan is for have all elementary through high school students receive the vaccine once the Food and Drug Administration approves the inoculations for their particular age group.
The federal government currently has fully approved the Covid-19 vaccine for those 16 years and older but has only granted an emergency authorization for anyone 12 to 15.
Once federal regulators fully approve the vaccine for that group, the state will require students in seventh through 12 grades to get the vaccine in both public and private schools, Newsom’s office stated. The state’s vaccine mandate would take effect the semester after the federal government grants final approval.If it comes in January, then the mandate would take effect in July.
The state will require the Covid-19 vaccine for students in kindergarten through sixth grade after the federal government has given final approval for anyone ages 5 to 11. In addition, Newsom said the state “will be requiring school staff, K-12, to be vaccinated in that first phase of the two-phase application of this new directive. The second phase…is everybody K-6. Again, that will be months away.”
The announcement comes as infections in most of the state have dropped considerably in the past month. For instance, in Los Angeles County, the nation’s largest with more than 10 million residents, daily infections are down by half in the last month when most children returned to school, according to the Associated Press.
“Today Gavin Newsom violated the rights of millions of California families with a statewide vaccine mandate for students,” said Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-District 6). “For Newsom, your rights as a parent mean nothing. The well-being of your child means nothing. Public health and ‘science’ mean nothing. All that matters is money and headline
He pointed out that just a few days ago Newsom actively opposed a mandate for California corrections officers, whose union contributed $1.75 million to his campaign against the recall election. “At every turn, this Governor has let his top special interest donors dictate pandemic policy. It is an abuse of the public trust without precent in our state’s history.”
In August, California became the first state in the country to require all teachers and staff in K-12 public and private schools to get vaccinated or have weekly Covid-19 testing. He also issued a school mask mandate earlier in the summer for indoor classes which applies to all students and teachers.