This weekend it was revealed that on Monday morning State Senator Richard Pan will announce a bill to add Covid-19 vaccinations as a requirement for California schoolchildren, grades K-12, to attend school. This will override Governor Gavin Newsom’s scaled-back mandate from last year.
In an interview with the LA times, Pan insisted that vaccinations are necessary for students and parents alike. “We need to make sure schools are safe so all parents are comfortable sending their kids to school,” said Pan, “And we want to keep schools open.”
This is the second major vaccine bill announced by a group of Democratic lawmakers who formed a work group last week to focus on measures of increasing vaccination rates, preventing the spread of the virus and misinformation. On Thursday, Senator Scott Wiener introduced Senate Bill 866, a California bill allowing children ages 12 and higher to get vaccinated without parental consent.
Both bills are expected to undergo scrutiny and objections from groups who oppose the vaccine whether for personal, medical, or religious reasons.
In Orange County alone, there are 510,000 reported cases of Covid-19. Students are constantly exposed to the virus, being forced to go to school and surrounded by fellow pupils who may or may not be vaccinated.
The new bill is hoping to aid in the recovery of education in schools, but will most likely face opposition from other anti-vax parties.
