California mandates COVID-19 vaccine for K-12 students starting in 2022

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all K-12 students in California, to take effect upon full approval by the Food and Drug Administration. WikiCommons

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Oct. 1 that California will be the first state to require all K-12 students attending public and private schools to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

While California educates 12% of the country’s students, the state accounts for just 14 — less than 1% — of the 2,321 school closures which have taken place since August nationwide.

Drawing on these numbers, Newsom stressed that achieving a greater level of immunity is essential to keeping classrooms open and ensuring students can continue learning in-person.  

“The state already requires students to be vaccinated against viruses that cause measles, mumps and rubella,” Newsom said in an Oct. 1 statement. “There’s no reason why we wouldn’t do the same for COVID-19. Vaccines work; it’s why California leads the country in preventing school closures and has the lowest case rates. We encourage other states to follow our lead to keep our kids safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

Michael Moodian, co-director of the Orange County Annual Survey and a lecturer in Chapman University’s Leadership Studies department, emphasized the necessity of vaccinating younger age groups in order to move beyond the “pandemic phase” of the virus — a conclusion supported by both epidemiologists and public health experts.

“The governor and his staff know the only way we're going to get beyond this pandemic is to get to the point where all age groups, or at least a very high percentage of them, are vaccinated,” Moodian said. “Until we are able to start vaccinating the youth, we will struggle to get there, (especially) given the number of people who are still holding out.”

The mandate will begin for students one term after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fully approves the vaccine for the age groups corresponding to grade spans 7-12, then K-6. A press release from the governor’s office reports the mandate is projected to start for grades 7-12 July 1, 2022, with grades K-6 being phased in once they become eligible. 

Educators and students alike have endorsed the mandate: Rachel Rosenbloom, a senior integrated educational studies and psychology double major who is passionate about inclusive elementary education, sees the announcement as a positive step forward.

“Requiring this vaccine for in-person learning creates a space that is safe for children with disabilities, with chronic illnesses or who are otherwise immunocompromised,” Rosenbloom said. “It tells these kids and their families that they matter.” 

However, some Californians find the mandate to be lacking the state support that school districts, five of which have already implemented their own mandates, need to enforce them.

Newsom enacted the order through a regulatory process; as such, state law requires him to include a “personal belief exemption,” which parents can cite to avoid vaccinating their children but still send them to school in-person. While the state Legislature can eliminate this exemption, some argue Newsom should have used his emergency powers to override it.

In California, the personal belief exemption is a sore topic, as parents’ abuse of this loophole for more than two decades led to a steady decline in child vaccination rates and a measles outbreak at Disneyland in 2014 which infected over 150 people.

Ultimately, legislation was passed in June 2015 removing exemptions for personal or religious reasons from California’s 10 existing student vaccine requirements. The decision would permit students to seek exemption only out of “medical necessity.”

Legislators are concerned about the same abuse of the personal belief loophole when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a pediatrician and Chairperson of California’s Senate Health Committee, suggested introducing a bill to eliminate the exemption when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Still, not all Californians agree with the state’s vaccine mandate. On Oct. 18, some California parents kept their children home from school to stage “walkouts” in protest of the mandate, gathering to demonstrate in front of school district offices and the state capitol in Sacramento.

Among their concerns were the beliefs that Gov. Newsom’s mandate was politically motivated, that it violated a civil liberty constitutionally granted to them and that children — a low-risk group for serious illness and death from coronavirus — did not need to be vaccinated.

Jordan Rosenberg, a sophomore history major and lifelong resident of Newport Beach, echoed these concerns. He told the Panther he felt Newsom’s order not only reflected government overreach, but it also contributed to division in the state. 

“(Newsom’s) strategy is not to unite and succeed; it’s to divide and conquer,” Rosenberg said. “The pandemic was supposed to be about, ‘We’re in this together.’ Now, if you’re not vaccinated, you’re considered a threat.”

Should vaccine-resistant parents submit neither the personal belief or medical exemption under Newsom’s mandate, they can enroll their children in online classes or independent study programs offered by school districts. They also have the option to homeschool. 

Moodian, however, is skeptical of the mandate having major impacts on California’s education landscape.

“California has this very loud, aggressive minority that is opposed to vaccines, but the public opinion polling we conducted earlier this year showed that the ‘silent majority’ of Orange County residents took the pandemic — and the efforts to quell it — seriously,” Moodian said. “While this very vocal and boisterous minority is what generates headlines and publicity in the news media, it is a very small faction that does not represent Orange County.”

Moodian predicts some parents will remain vocal in their opposition and pursue alternative schooling options, but, as time passes, the majority will find the easiest thing to do is simply to get their children vaccinated and send them to school again.

Additionally, Rosembloom emphasized the importance of doing the best thing for children’s safety and overall well-being. 

“Conversations around independent study and homeschooling feel very much centered around parents, when the purpose of this mandate is to protect children,” Rosenbloom added. “Children are the ones who should be at the center of this conversation.”