Loading ...Newsom orders COVID vaccines for eligible students, the first K-12 school mandate in nation
The COVID vaccine mandate would apply to students 12 and older after they become eligible for a fully authorized vaccine.
SAN FRANCISCO — In the first such action in the nation, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a mandate Friday requiring all eligible public and private schoolchildren in California to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a policy the state expects to affect millions of students by fall 2022.
The mandate would take effect for grades 7 through 12 the semester following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full authorization of the vaccine for children ages 12 and over, according to the governor’s office. Students in kindergarten through sixth grade would be phased in after the vaccine is authorized for younger children.
Currently, only individuals 16 or older are eligible to receive a vaccine that has full approval from the FDA. Children as young as 12 have been able to receive the vaccine under emergency authorization. For that reason, state officials expect the mandate to begin taking effect next fall.
Once in effect, students will not be allowed to attend classes in-person on campus without being vaccinated, just as with any other required childhood vaccine. Rare medical and religious exemptions would be available.
It will be up to schools and school districts to enforce the mandate, as they do with other required vaccines, including those for hepatitis B, tetanus, mumps, measles, polio and chickenpox.
Students 16 and older are currently eligible for the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which has won full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Children ages `12 to 15 have been able to receive Pfizer shots since May after the FDA authorized it for emergency use in that age group, with full approval widely anticipated by November.
Vaccines for children 5 to 11 are not that far off. Pfizer is expected to apply for authorization imminently, citing evidence from trials indicating that the shots are safe and effective for children in that range. The shots could be available for that group, under an emergency-use authorization, around Thanksgiving, according to the Associated Press.
With Newsom’s student vaccine mandate, California is once again moving faster than any other state on measures to combat a pandemic that has taken about 69,000 lives in the state. The Golden State was the first to order a strict lockdown early in the pandemic, and enacted a second stay-at-home order in most of the state again late last year.
Schools remained closed longer than in many other states and longer than many business sectors in California, leading to some intense criticism of the governor for not making school reopening a higher priority.
Newsom orders COVID vaccines for eligible students, the first K-12 school mandate in nation
The COVID vaccine mandate would apply to students 12 and older after they become eligible for a fully authorized vaccine.
SAN FRANCISCO — In the first such action in the nation, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a mandate Friday requiring all eligible public and private schoolchildren in California to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a policy the state expects to affect millions of students by fall 2022.
The mandate would take effect for grades 7 through 12 the semester following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full authorization of the vaccine for children ages 12 and over, according to the governor’s office. Students in kindergarten through sixth grade would be phased in after the vaccine is authorized for younger children.
Currently, only individuals 16 or older are eligible to receive a vaccine that has full approval from the FDA. Children as young as 12 have been able to receive the vaccine under emergency authorization. For that reason, state officials expect the mandate to begin taking effect next fall.
Once in effect, students will not be allowed to attend classes in-person on campus without being vaccinated, just as with any other required childhood vaccine. Rare medical and religious exemptions would be available.
It will be up to schools and school districts to enforce the mandate, as they do with other required vaccines, including those for hepatitis B, tetanus, mumps, measles, polio and chickenpox.
Students 16 and older are currently eligible for the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which has won full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Children ages `12 to 15 have been able to receive Pfizer shots since May after the FDA authorized it for emergency use in that age group, with full approval widely anticipated by November.
Vaccines for children 5 to 11 are not that far off. Pfizer is expected to apply for authorization imminently, citing evidence from trials indicating that the shots are safe and effective for children in that range. The shots could be available for that group, under an emergency-use authorization, around Thanksgiving, according to the Associated Press.
With Newsom’s student vaccine mandate, California is once again moving faster than any other state on measures to combat a pandemic that has taken about 69,000 lives in the state. The Golden State was the first to order a strict lockdown early in the pandemic, and enacted a second stay-at-home order in most of the state again late last year.
Schools remained closed longer than in many other states and longer than many business sectors in California, leading to some intense criticism of the governor for not making school reopening a higher priority.