Why California Is Delaying Its COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Schools

California is delaying implementation of a requirement that K-12 students be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to attend school, state health officials announced this week as the country grapples with a lagging COVID-19 vaccination rate among children. Under the new timeline, California’s vaccine requirement will not take effect until at least July 1, 2023, and after full approval of the vaccine for children by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “to ensure sufficient time for successful implementation of new vaccine requirements,” the California Department of Public Health said in a statement on Thursday. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The FDA fully approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for people 16 years and older in August, and the Moderna vaccine in January for those 18 and older, but has not extended full approval to younger ages. Children age 5 and older are eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 under the FDA’s emergency use authorization; studies have shown the vaccine is safe and effective for that age group. In October, California became the first state to announce that, once the vaccine receives full FDA approval, children would be required to get it to attend school. “The state already requires that students are vaccinated against viruses that cause measles, mumps, and rubella—there’s no reason why we wouldn’t do the same for COVID-19,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at the tim...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Education nationpod Source Type: news