California Democrats are shelving a bill that would have prevented students from using personal belief exemptions to opt-out of required COVID-19 vaccines.
Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, on Thursday announced he’s putting Senate Bill 871 on hold because COVID-19 vaccine rates, especially among children, are “insufficient” and “the state needs to focus its effort on increasing access to COVID vaccinations for children through physicians and other health providers who care for children.”
Pan also said that California needs to expand “education efforts to give families accurate information about the COVID vaccine.”
Late Thursday, California health officials announced the state would delay COVID-19 vaccine requirements for schools until the 2023-24 school, citing a lag in the full federal approval of the shot for many younger students.
Vaccination rates among children lag behind that of the state’s adult population, according to the state Department of Public Health — 33.9% of children 5 to 11 years old are vaccinated; the rate is double (66.4%) for older children ages 12-17. The rate for adults 49 and younger was 77.7% as of Tuesday.
“Until children’s access to COVID vaccination is greatly improved, I believe that a statewide policy to require COVID vaccination in schools is not the immediate priority,” Pan said in a statement. “Although it is an appropriate safety policy for many school districts in communities with good vaccine access.
Some districts that had tried to institute vaccine requirements themselves, however, quickly ran into trouble because there were too few alternative learning options for those whose parents chose not to get the shots.
Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2021 required all students to receive COVID-19 vaccines starting during the school term after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives full approval to shots for their age range.
Newsom’s order allows students to opt-out of the COVID-19 vaccine requirement with a personal belief exemption. SB 871 would have prevented students from using that exemption to get out of the requirement.
The bill would have added the COVID-19 vaccine to a list of shots the California Department of Public Health requires for school attendance. Current laws require Public Health to allow personal belief exemptions for new vaccines they add to the list.
SB 871 would have eliminated that rule for “any additional immunization requirements deemed appropriate by the department.”
Right now, the FDA has issued an emergency-use authorization for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 years and older. It has fully approved the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines only for people 16 and older.
Pan’s vaccine bill is the second major vaccine bill California Democrats have put on hold this year. Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, on March 30 also held Assembly Bill 1993, which would have mandated COVID vaccines for all employees.
A bill from Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, that would allow children 12 and older to get vaccines without parental consent still remains in the legislative pipeline.
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 3:25 PM.
