Texas leaders bristle at federal panel's recommendation for COVID-19 requirement for kids

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention appears poised to recommend a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for young students, but Texas officials seem unlikely add the shot to the roughly dozen vaccinations already required for school-age children in the state's public schools.

A group of state attorneys general, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, sent a letter last week to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services denouncing a CDC committee's recommendation to require COVID-19 vaccinations of school-age children.

"Your decision is unnecessary and subjects children to retaliation for their parent or guardian's decisions to decline this vaccination," said the letter, authored by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. "Moreover, this action could deny many parents the freedom to determine whether to subject their kids to an experimental vaccine."

More:Children's hospitals in Austin, across Texas battling surge in respiratory viruses

"COVID-19 does not pose the same danger to kids as polio or measles, nor does the vaccine provide the same protection," the letter alleges, citing other diseases already on the agency's list for recommended vaccination.

The centers' recommendation wouldn't mean Texas or any other state would have to adopt that requirement.

The Texas Department of State Health Services "has no intention of creating a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for schools or otherwise and will follow the direction of the Texas Legislature respecting any new vaccine requirements," according to a statement from the agency.

Paxton's office and CDC officials didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

In August 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott prohibited all public entities, including school districts, from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations, just one of a slew of executive orders he issued under the authority of an ongoing pandemic-related disaster declaration.

Abbott last week extended the state pandemic disaster declaration, a measure that keeps in place the 40 executive orders and other suspensions of Texas laws he issued during the pandemic.

"To protect Texans' right to choose for themselves and their children, Gov. Abbott issued an executive order last year ensuring exceptions based on religious belief, personal conscience or medical condition, including prior recovery from COVID," Eze said.

Who decides which vaccines are required for Texas students?

Required vaccinations for Texas public school students are determined by the Texas Legislature. The Department of State Health Services and Texas Education Agency then set the list.

Which vaccines does the CDC recommend?

The CDC already recommends more than a dozen vaccines for children under 18 years old. Those vaccines include Hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hib — a bacterial disease — pneumococcal disease, polio, the flu, measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, HPV andmeningococcal disease.

The CDC also recommend a dengue vaccine for children who live in endemic areas.

Do states have to follow the vaccine requirement recommendations for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?

No, states can set their own vaccine requirements for school children.

What vaccines are required for Texas school children?

The Department of State Health Services already requires a handful of vaccinations before students may register for school. Children entering kindergarten must have received vaccinations for polio, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hepatitis A and B and chickenpox, according to the agency.

Students entering seventh grade must also have a meningococcal vaccine.

Can parents exempt their students from vaccine requirements?

Parents can exempt their children from vaccination if a physician provides a statement with a medical reason the student can't get a vaccine. Parents can also exempt their children from vaccination for "reasons of conscience, including a religious belief." However, the state doesn't allow children to attend school without a vaccine because of inconvenience, according to the department.

How many Texas children have the required vaccines?

In the 2021-2022 school year, almost 93.8% of Texas public school children had received all required vaccines, according to the Department of State Health Services. About 2.5% of children had exemptions and 3% were delinquent, according to the data.

In the Austin district, 90.2% of kindergarteners were vaccinated against chickenpox and 91% were vaccinated against polio, according to the data.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas leaders oppose COVID vaccine mandate for students