CA Vaccination Requirement For All School Children Under New Bill

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CALIFRONIA — The COVID-19 vaccine may join the lineup of required shots for the Golden State's schoolchildren should a new bill become law.

State Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) was expected to unveil a bill Monday that would close a loophole in the California's vaccine mandate for K-12 students. Pan, a pediatrician, has been one of the state's most vocal advocates for vaccination among school children.

The bill would override Gov. Gavin Newsom's vaccination mandate for school children, which would not take effect until after federal officials fully approve shots for children ages 12 and up. In the interim, an emergency order allows authorization for ages 5 to 15.

"We need to make sure schools are safe so that all parents are comfortable sending their children to school,” Pan said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "And we want to keep schools open."

Unlike Newsom's mandate, Pan's bill would not allow for parents to opt out their children by citing personal or religious beliefs, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The new bill would require all students from K-12 grades to be vaccinated beginning Jan. 1 and parents would need a medical exemption to skip the doses.

“We're in the middle of a pandemic, and every day that they're not getting vaccinated they're more vulnerable,” Pan said at a news conference last week.

The bill is expected to be met with much opposition from those who argue that vaccination decisions should be left to legal guardians and parents.

READ MORE: COVID Infection More Protective Than Vaccines Alone In CA

Pan's bill is the second piece of vaccine-related legislation to be proposed this month. Last week, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced SB 866, which allows children 12 years and older to become inoculated without parental consent.

"Giving young people the autonomy to receive life-saving vaccines, regardless of their parents’ beliefs or work schedules, is essential for their physical and mental health," Wiener wrote in a statement.

Under existing law, those 12 and 17 cannot be vaccinated without parental consent.


Wiener's legislation is not a mandate, but any vaccination legislation has been a point of contention in California and across the nation.

Pan, Wiener and other legislators recently formed a "work group" to examine ways to promote vaccines and fight misinformation. Members include Sen. Josh Newman; and Assembly members Dr. Akilah Weber, Buffy Wicks, Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, and Evan Low.

Even before the pandemic, busloads of opponents filled the state Capital and lined up for hours to protest bills lifting religious and personal beliefs for the 10 vaccines already required of school children.

And in September, more than a thousand people rallied outside the Capital to oppose vaccine mandates, even though California lawmakers had postponed their consideration of legislation requiring that workers either be vaccinated or get weekly coronavirus testing to keep their jobs.

"This to me seems to be another example of Democrats wanting to remove parents from the equation," said Republican Assemblyman James Gallagher. "I think that’s flawed policy. I think parents are vital to these decisions."

However, he thinks Wiener may have difficulty getting his bill passed even in a Legislature overwhelmingly controlled by Democrats.

“I think there will be bipartisan support for the proposition that parents should be involved in their kids' health care decisions, in deciding what types of medical care and drugs they should be taking,” Gallagher said.

Children age 5 and up are currently eligible for coronavirus vaccines, but 28.6 percent of California residents ages 12-17 remain unvaccinated — more than 900,000 of an eligible population of more than 3 million, or more than one in four, Wiener said at a news conference last week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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This article originally appeared on the Los Angeles Patch