Letters to the Editor: Yes, California should require all K-12 students to be vaccinated

Arcadia, CA - January 08: Pedro Elizarraraz, a RN, gives Amelle Samuel, 7, first dose of Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at Children's Hospital Arcadia Speciality Care Center on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022 in Arcadia, CA. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Nurse Pedro Elizarraraz gives a COIVD-19 vaccine dose to a 7-year-old at Children's Hospital Arcadia Specialty Care Center on Jan. 8. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

To the editor: State Sen. Richard Pan's (D-Sacramento) bill requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for all K-12 students is essential. ("Get more kids vaccinated against COVID, yes, but two bills need more work," editorial, Jan. 26)

COVID-19 is not harmless for kids, especially now. In January 2021, kids accounted for just 1.6% of all COVID-19 hospitalizations nationally; today, that number is 6%. The death of a 15-month-old from the virus was reported in L.A. County this week.

More than 140,000 children have lost a caregiver to COVID-19. More than 6,400 have the longer-term inflammatory syndrome that can devastate vital organs.

In contrast, with more than 22 million children vaccinated in this country, the COVID-19 vaccines have proven extraordinarily safe and effective.

Vaccination is a simple lifesaving act that protects the child, their grandparents and their baby siblings. It protects the third grader with leukemia and the lunch lady with cancer. Let's keep our schools open and safe, our teachers teaching and all of our kids healthy and vaccinated.

Lynn Silver, MD, Oakland

The writer is a pediatrician and senior advisor at the Public Health Institute.

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To the editor: Pan's bill is a knee-jerk reaction to a virus that has shown itself to be ever-changing. We are likely years away from fully understanding the virus' long-term effects on both adults and children. Our response to it needs to be thoughtful, measured and just as flexible as the virus itself.

How does it make sense to mandate a vaccine today that may soon need to be changed? Will we give the state Legislature carte blanche to mandate any vaccine it wants, even if the vaccine has not been fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration?

We should not force vaccines on children or keep them out of school. We already know the damages this causes to our young people. This is wrong-headed thinking, and this legislation should be stopped.

For the record, I am not anti-vaccine.

Janis Salupo, Irvine

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To the editor: The argument that a tougher vaccine mandate to attend school removes the right of parents to make medical decisions for their children is fallacious.

Parents will still have the right to make this medical choice for their children; they just won't have the right to withhold vaccinations from their children and send them to school in-person.

California has many options for education. There are online and homeschooling options.

Wendy Velasco, Whittier

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To the editor: I showed my husband the sweet photo of a young schoolgirl about to get vaccinated and said, "Aw, she looks like she's asking the nurse if it's going to hurt."

My husband replied drily, "Yes, although she's braver than a lot of police officers."

Pauline Flanders, Whittier

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To the editor: Kids aren't born political, intolerant or racist. Just look at school playgrounds across the country.

Parents who do not allow their kids to be vaccinated against COVID-19 are putting their political ideologies before the health and safety of their children. This time, let the kids be the adults in the room.

Jared Sloan, Silver Lake

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.