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Education Medicine United States

California Becomes First State To Require Covid-19 Vaccination For Students 232

skam240 writes: California has just become the first state to add Covid-19 vaccination to its list of required vaccines for in-school attendance. "The requirement will go into effect at the start of the term that follows the FDA's full approval for that grade group -- either January 1 or July 1," reports CNN, citing a release from Gov. Gavin Newsom's office. For grades 7-12 the requirement is expected to begin on July 1, 2022. Newsom's office said independent study is an option for unvaccinated students. "This will accelerate our effort to get this pandemic behind us," Newsom told CNN's Ana Cabrera minutes after making the announcement. "We already mandate 10 vaccines. In so many ways... it's probably the most predictable announcement."

"I have four young kids. I can't take this anymore. I'm like most parents, I want to get this behind us, get this economy moving again, make sure our kids never have to worry about getting a call saying they can't go to school the next day because one of the kids or a staff member tested positive," the governor added.
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California Becomes First State To Require Covid-19 Vaccination For Students

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  • Of course (Score:5, Insightful)

    by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Friday October 01, 2021 @06:13PM (#61852279)

    "We already mandate 10 vaccines.

    All those whining about being vaccinated against covid conveniently forget children, and themselves. are already vaccinated against several other viruses which, thanks to those vaccines, either are or nearly are eradicated in this country. It's the very reason we no longer have smallpox.

    But then, when you have people with this illogic [imgur.com], it's no wonder reason doesn't work [imgur.com].

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by jobslave ( 6255040 )
      Watch it man, you're trying to talk to idiots using logic, science and common sense. This won't work for some reason, I'm pretty sure they were born without the ability to understand reality.
    • Re:Of course (Score:5, Interesting)

      by fermion ( 181285 ) on Friday October 01, 2021 @06:45PM (#61852351) Homepage Journal
      But not HPV. This is the harm done by conservative religious freaks. HPV vaccines can prevent cancer, but it also, so the religious freaks thinks, encourages sex. It is interesting that Virginia mandates the HPV vaccine but not California. But then California also has no minimum age for marriage.
      • California is also a lot more conservative than you might think. The well known big cities and a thin strip of coastal area are progressive or at least ultra-liberal, but there's also a vast interior area that's agricultural and ... not quite ultra-conservative, but they're definitely Republican, and they also to a large extent resent the hold that the liberal areas have on the state's politics due to population. It really is kind of a microcosm of the U.S.
      • In California, the strongest groups of antivaxxers are rich liberals. (I'm not saying against COVID, I mean against vaccines in general).
        You need a medical excuse to not get vaccinated, which means you need good connections with a doctor (or actually have a vaccine allergy, which is rare).

      • Sexually active teens have to breath oxygen too. Therefor, oxygen means that you are sexually active! Ban teens consuming oxygen!

    • Re: Of course (Score:5, Insightful)

      by RightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) on Friday October 01, 2021 @06:45PM (#61852353)

      Some vaccines, like Hepatitis, the first dose is given hours after birth.

      Others, like HPV are given around age 10.

      Chickenpox around 1 year.

      Flu shots aren't administered until age 6 months even if the kid is sent off to daycare at age 3 months straight into flu season.

      Shingles vaccines aren't recommended until age 40 or 45.

      We don't hammer a newborn with all of their first doses all at once because some vaccines have side effects whose risks outweigh the benefits until a certain age, either for reasons of biology or social factors.

      With covid shots, the risk of staying unvaccinated is clearly quite high in adulthood and perhaps even late teens. For 5 year olds? Who knows if the 1 in 3k to 1 in 10k risk of myocarditis is worth it compared against the tiny risk of covid for the low range of the age group.

      One presumes that a lower dose for the pediatric version might cut that side effect risk to a point where it really does make sense.

      But legislating a requirement before this is all shaken out is silly.

      • Re: Of course (Score:4, Insightful)

        by dryeo ( 100693 ) on Friday October 01, 2021 @10:31PM (#61852809)

        The problem is that Delta seems to infect kids way more then previous strains, judging by how many kids are getting it this year compared to last year. While you're right that it usually doesn't make them very sick, they're still contagious and bringing it home. There's 20% of eligible people unvaccinated here, about half a million, then there's the older people where the vaccine doesn't work so well.
        We're running out of a resource, namely healthcare workers, as the hospitals and ICU units fill up and regular healthcare is getting put off with the neighbouring Province starting to triage. Surgeries getting cancelled sees kids (and adults) with other health problems not being able to get the care they need. Nothing like your cancer surgery being cancelled due to the unvaccinated.
        Vaccination seems like the way out of this, and it needs to be most of the population.
        As for myocarditis, I understand that many are susceptible to it and it gets triggered by various things including the vaccine and I see Ontario is recommending that the young stay away from Moderna and stick with Pfizer as Pfizer seems to trigger myocarditis less. Have to wait for more info on the under 12's though it does sound like their doses will be about a third of adults.

      • Re: Of course (Score:4, Insightful)

        by LiquidAvatar ( 772805 ) on Saturday October 02, 2021 @02:04AM (#61853085) Journal
        When comparing relative risks, make sure that you're doing an apples-to-apples comparison. If you want to look at the risk of vaccine-induced myocarditis (which is a condition that people almost always recover from in a few days, especially if there's medical intervention), ensure that you don't compare it to the risk of death from covid (which, last time I checked, has a very poor recovery rate). Also worth noting, according to NYT [nytimes.com], myocarditis is even more common amongst covid patients than it is amongst vaccine recipients. One last thing: those silly legislations only go into effect after the vaccines have been fully approved for a given age group.
        • To be fair, covid is very survivable for upward of 99% of the population. Obviously that still leaves 3.3 million or so people that are fucked. So people should probably go ahead and get vaccinated. Government has the right to do this so it's always been a matter of when and not if.

      • Re: Of course (Score:4, Insightful)

        by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Saturday October 02, 2021 @02:38AM (#61853123)

        Shingles vaccines aren't recommended until age 40 or 45.

        There's a reason for that, it's to do with the one your 1 year example. Hint: Same underlying virus.

        But legislating a requirement before this is all shaken out is silly.

        Before what is shaken out? We've shaken it out. The negative effects of vaccination are seen within months. We now have well over a year of trial data and nearly a year of insanely large scale mass rollout data. The risk has been quantified, and decision made based upon the actual data.

        Myocarditis? Do you still think that's all COVID does? How can you still be so ignorant this late in the game. Here's a hint: My wife teaches 4 students who don't have myocarditis. That doesn't make them feel any better with 3 of them having completely lost their sense of smell and taste for well over a year now and 1 of them diagnosed with chronic fatigue. And she doesn't teach very many classes.

        Just because kids aren't dying doesn't mean there isn't a negative consequence of being hit with a nasty case of COVID.

        • I'm not comparing death to myocarditis.

          Death is sufficiently rare in the very young (for whom there is not a year of data) that myocarditis may be the dominant risk.

          This is obviously untrue after a certain age, and it may be less true with lower doses.

          For the record, I'll vaccinate my small children eventually, but jumping to be the first in line is not what I did for myself and it won't be for them. Because covid is not a big enough risk *at their age* and all the adults are vaxxed.

          At some point, maybe in

          • by DRJlaw ( 946416 )

            For the record, I'll vaccinate my small children eventually, but jumping to be the first in line is not what I did for myself and it won't be for them. Because covid is not a big enough risk *at their age* and all the adults are vaxxed.

            At some point, maybe in a few years, either the myocarditis will not be an issue or covid complications will eclipse it, and then they get their shots.

            Just math folks.

            All the adults are vaxxed? Not even close [nytimes.com] Just the facts man.

      • According to the CDC, the flu is more dangerous to kids under 6 y.o. So I really fail to see why this has such a high priority. Wouldn't it make more sense to get the adults to a higher vaccination rate?
        • by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

          It makes the most sense to try all approaches, a large section of society has decided to believe lies and rumours instead of scientifically based medical advice, they're not going to get vaccinated until someone close they know gets very ill or dies.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Part of the argument for vaccinating children against COVID-19 is that getting it causes interruptions to their education, and they can give it to their parents and teachers.

        I don't know what the situation in California is like, but in the UK children missed a lot of school due to COVID-19 and there is next to no money to help them catch up. Exams were cancelled for two years but even when they come back in they will have to account for a lot of missed education.

    • All those whining about being vaccinated against covid conveniently forget children, and themselves. are already vaccinated against several other viruses which, thanks to those vaccines, either are or nearly are eradicated in this country. It's the very reason we no longer have smallpox.

      Where is the logic in asserting that because of x therefore y is warranted?

    • I vaccinated my kids against all the usual stuff - measles, rubella, etc etc. Those things can be awful for kids, even deadly. But Covid? Nah, it is illogical to require it when the teachers are vaccinated and it is rarely dangerous for kids. Let those children with serious reasons get vaccinated and leave well enough alone.
      • Re: Of course (Score:5, Interesting)

        by RightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) on Friday October 01, 2021 @08:16PM (#61852523)

        My older kid picked up RSV, gave it to my newborn, and the newborn was in the hospital for a week. The nurses said the pediatric ward was full of similar stories. Covid? Not so much. Perspective is important.

        Panicking over phantom risks also tends to take away attention from real threats that have always been there.

        I'm speculating, but keeping kids in bubbles probably left a big hole in the herd immunity from RSV too. So all this infection suppression shit has costs too.

        • Two friends in the nursing profession told me they are seeing elevated RSV in our area. It seems like there's no free lunch here; infection suppression can mean other things get worse. It's kind of like monocropping for humans, immunologically speaking. Too much focus on one area makes us blind in a different one.
          • Infection suppression is sensible only if there is artificial immunity on the other end of it. If there isn't, you're incurring a penalty down the line. Flu is gonna be super happy fun when it comes back.

          • infection suppression can mean other things get worse.

            Not "can" ... the right word is "will"

            Liberals dont fucking care.

        • by dryeo ( 100693 )

          You're lucky you weren't in Alberta, they've almost shut down the pediatric wards/hospitals as the workers are needed to man the ICU beds.
          And the bubbles here were 50-100 kids in school last year, doesn't seem that bad.

          • Here the schools were mostly shut for a full year and the daycares are naturally podded up at 10 per room max. And the 3 month shutdowns of daycares in Massachusetts scared away a lot of parents when they did reopen.

            • by dryeo ( 100693 )

              Yea, too many jurisdictions closed schools last year, not good for the kids which is why the Provincial Health Officer insisted on them being open once we knew a bit more. They also did the cohort thing. Last year there wasn't much infection in the schools, this year with Delta, a lot more. Thankfully it doesn't seem to affect the young kids much, though they're still contagious.

              • Well, it seems your public health establishment is less prone to panicky idiocy and unquantitative unscientific behavior than the US CDC is. At least along that one dimension.

    • According to the latest CDC data (https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Deaths-Focus-on-Ages-0-18-Yea/nr4s-juj3), exactly 387 million school-aged children have died due to symptoms associated with COVID-19 (almost certainly all of whom had diabetes, cancer, cardio-pulmonary disorders and/or other severe pre-existing conditions. There are something like 75M children in the US under 18. A child is more likely to die from a lightning strike than from COVID-19.

      The reason this was mandated in CA is th

    • Children are NOT required to be vaccinated. They are only required *IF* they attend public schools. Just like you don't need a drivers license or insurance to own or drive a car. *UNLESS* you drive it on public roads.

      Each person has the right to decide if the risks presented by the vaccine outweigh the risks of the disease. Just as they have the right to decide whether or not to drive on public roads or send their children to public schools. The fascist state of California does not have the right to fo
  • While this move makes perfect sense, I can see it giving some people (likely Republicans) that extra push to take their child out of public school altogether.

    It will be interesting to see if their is renewed interest for a push for school vouchers. I mean, by living in a home, you pay property taxes which go to the school your child is attending. If your child is attending else where, why shouldn't you get a voucher to cover that?

    • by c-A-d ( 77980 ) on Friday October 01, 2021 @06:21PM (#61852297)

      There are much better reasons for removing children from government schools than requiring a vaccination.

    • by Somervillain ( 4719341 ) on Friday October 01, 2021 @06:53PM (#61852367)

      If your child is attending else where, why shouldn't you get a voucher to cover that?

      Because you're forcing the community to share in the cost of educating your child so we can have a functional workforce and less future prison inmates, among other reasons we want an educated population. If your child is in the public school system, there is a minimum standard in place regarding educational standards. If the public school fails to meet the legally required needs, you can sue and have you child outplaced. Someone is welcome to think whatever they want about our public school system, but they are mandated by law to provide a minimum standard of education and in my area they generally exceed it.

      Vouchers shouldn't be applied to Trump University, Liberty University, or their pre-college equivalent scams. I also would vote against any measure to give home schoolers money. It's the equivalent of using your medicare dollars on crystal therapy instead of chemotherapy for cancer treatment.

      Having a literate and intelligent population is mission critical for every nation. Catering to every nutjob who thinks vaccines are tyranny is not. I would never vote for nor support vouchers nor any funding for anything but properly accredited educational institutions. They're welcome to make noise, but we're in the majority and the majority of people would never vote to give weirdos large amounts of cash for homeschooling or other scams.

      • Liberty University is the largest university in the US (and probably the world) and is accredited. While I'm not a big Falwell fan (to put it nicely) I know a few people who went there and got an education.

        My kids also went to a local private religious school for about the first half of their grade school. The school had better outcomes than the public schools in the area.

        I'm not sure why the hate, but I probably hit the nail on the head in my last statement.

        • Liberty University is the largest university in the US (and probably the world) and is accredited. While I'm not a big Falwell fan (to put it nicely) I know a few people who went there and got an education.

          My kids also went to a local private religious school for about the first half of their grade school. The school had better outcomes than the public schools in the area.

          Liberty is the 7th largest according to wikipedia.

          Also, your arguments are why private school is good. I am not arguing that they're not good. I just don't want to pay for them to accommodate someone's belief that vaccines are tyranny.

          If I want to smoke weed and shove crystals up my ass as cancer treatment, do you want to foot the bill with medicare dollars? I assume you'd tell me to fuck off. I have the right to shove crystals up my ass and smoke weed (in my state), but you have no obligation to

      • If your child is in the public school system, there is a minimum standard in place regarding educational standards.

        All existing and proposed voucher systems require the schools accepting vouchers to meet the same standards.

        If the public school fails to meet the legally required needs, you can sue and have you child outpaced.

        Number of parents with the time and resources to do that: ~0.

        When a private school fails to meet your needs, you can switch schools the next day.

        • If the public school fails to meet the legally required needs, you can sue and have you child outpaced.

          Number of parents with the time and resources to do that: ~0.

          When a private school fails to meet your needs, you can switch schools the next day.

          My son was outplaced after we sued. We didn't have to go to court. Hire an educational attorney for about 2 months of private school tuition and most schools will settle if you have a case. Half of the students in his school have the same story. So I know about 100 exceptions and our family is one of them. It's very common in special education scenarios.

          As far as your argument about switching private schools, that's a red herring. Yes, that is an upside, but I'm not saying ban private schools. I j

        • The standards are not identical. The private or voucher schools can eject abusive or dangerous children. Public schools find it very difficult.

      • If the public school fails to meet the legally required needs, you can sue and have you child outplaced Someone is welcome to think whatever they want about our public school system, but they are mandated by law to provide a minimum standard of education and in my area they generally exceed it.

        Only 40% of fourth and eighth graders [npr.org] can read at a proficient level; last year, 82% of public schools [nytimes.com] failed to meet the standards you advocate, Oregon, having admitted they have no hope of meeting desired education outcomes, is instead suspending all graduation requirements [apnews.com].

        Private school students score higher on teh ACT [www.lcs.education], smaller class sizes [usnews.com], and an almost 100% [ed.gov] graduation rate.

        Vouchers shouldn't be applied to Trump University, Liberty University, or their pre-college equivalent scams. I also would vote against any measure to give home schoolers money. It's the equivalent of using your medicare dollars on crystal therapy instead of chemotherapy for cancer treatment.

        Kind of ironic to make that comparison when your view seems entirely based on pure faith rather than evidence. No one is asking f

        • The central debate is about whether vaccination mandates will spur home schooling voucher funding. I doubt it will increase it and if I had the ability to vote on it, I would definitely vote against it. If a parent feels so strongly home schooling or a private school is best for them, they can foot the bill. I would never personally vote to fund religious education nor homeschooling with taxpayer money. It drains the best students and parents from the system. I am not fully confident I am making the ri
        • by q_e_t ( 5104099 )

          Private school students score higher on teh ACT [www.lcs.education], smaller class sizes [usnews.com], and an almost 100% [ed.gov] graduation rate.

          Parents of children in private schools tend to have a higher income and be better motivated with regards to education. You have to filter out those two confounding variables to know to what extent private schools are better than state ones.

          Of course there are many poor parents who value education highly and my parents were in that group, and I did well in state schools. There are other poor parents who value education but are working all hours so can't invest in it so much. There are a few wealthy parents w

    • It will be interesting to see if their is renewed interest for a push for school vouchers.

      Unlikely. The politics of vouchers just don't work.

      Those inclined to support a market solution (rural and suburban Republicans) already have good public schools.

      Those with bad public schools (poor urban minorities) who would benefit from vouchers are captive to the Democratic Party, which opposes vouchers because teachers' unions are their biggest donors.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • by dryeo ( 100693 )

        Simple fix, outlaw unions from donating while outlawing all other non-living entities from donating. And while about it limit the amount individuals can donate to something like a grand or 2. Works here.

  • There would be a federal lawsuit to stop this coming from the justice department. Has it stands it's likely to be the opposite where anti-vaxxers will bring lawsuits and if the justice department does anything it'll file a brief in support of California.

    It just goes to show that it's worth showing up to vote. Even if you're in a safe state you want to show up because you want to be sure that your guy doesn't have to devote resources to make sure that your state doesn't suddenly flip for some reason. Nev
    • by Octorian ( 14086 ) on Friday October 01, 2021 @06:54PM (#61852371) Homepage

      I suspect if Biden wasn't president, a huge number of the people currently refusing the vaccines would have already gotten their shots. Why? Because the propaganda machine that's causing them to refuse the vaccines is the same propaganda machine that makes them foam at the mouth over everything Biden (or anyone else from his party) does.

      Oh, and those same people would probably be pushing for the very kinds of mandates they're currently protesting against.

      • Trump got booed telling them to vax up. He & his party wouldn't have bothered risking the backlash just to get people to vax up. Instead they'd lean into it. It doesn't matter if they're dying when they're dying in counties he wins by a large margin.
      • I suspect if Biden wasn't president, a huge number of the people currently refusing the vaccines would have already gotten their shots. Why? Because the propaganda machine that's causing them to refuse the vaccines is the same propaganda machine that makes them foam at the mouth over everything Biden (or anyone else from his party) does.

        Oh, and those same people would probably be pushing for the very kinds of mandates they're currently protesting against.

        I hear you, but think... not likely.

        Remember masks. The Republican division was anti-mask, anti-social-distancing, anti-lockdown, anti-this-is-actually-real while Trump was president. They were, and still are anti-fact.

      • I suspect if Biden wasn't president, a huge number of the people currently refusing the vaccines would have already gotten their shots.

        I thought Trump claimed the vaccine was all his idea and he's the only reason we have one?

        The trick with dealing with stupid people is to make them believe the appropriate version of the completely contradictory and ever changing lies that they are being fed.

  • by FuzzMaster ( 596994 ) on Friday October 01, 2021 @06:34PM (#61852323)
    Kindergarteners don't have a union to represent their interests against the governor, so they can't use the testing option that teachers continue to have.
    • Kindergarteners don't have a union to represent their interests against the governor, so they can't use the testing option that teachers continue to have.

      The students need the vax to protect against unvaxed teachers

  • A mandate makes sense if it can be demonstrated to either prevent spread and/or prevent severe disease.

    For the youngest range of that age range, there is insufficient evidence to say universal vaccination of that age group would prevent severe disease because the youngest range of that age group does not (as a group) suffer severe disease if infected.

    As for spread...maybe it's going to tamp down on spread but it's likely going to have more bite on the upper range of the age range since that's the kids who t

    • by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Friday October 01, 2021 @06:49PM (#61852365)

      because the youngest range of that age group does not (as a group) suffer severe disease if infected.

      And if the kid gets infected from a teacher or staff member, or from another kids whose parents are anti-vax, and takes the virus home to mommy and daddy, like happens with the flu? It's not all about the effect getting infected has on you, it's about you passing it to someone else, vaccinated or not.

      • At some point there needs to be a maximum radius of responsibility.

        There ain't no motivation for getting vaxxed like watching your friends end up sick. Most 5 year olds have young parents. Even if they're scared shitless of microchips, it's not quite the public health nightmare that you make it out to be.

        And not to put to fine a point on it but it's generally a self correcting problem.

        I'm not anti vax. I'm anti coercion.

      • Mandatory vaccinations will not prevent this. Vaccines are highly effective in preventing sever decease but not in stopping infections. That's why we still wear masks. According to new study form UK, of the 554,896 new COVID cases recorded in adults in the month of August, over half (50.6%) were in people who had already had two vaccine doses.
  • The teachers are not required to vaccinate, they have the option for weekly tests. And the teachers are the ones more likely to get seriously ill.

    California is following the unions, the politics, not the science. If students have a mandate teachers should have a mandate.
    • by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 01, 2021 @07:37PM (#61852441)

      The teachers are not required to vaccinate, they have the option for weekly tests. And the teachers are the ones more likely to get seriously ill. California is following the unions, the politics, not the science. If students have a mandate teachers should have a mandate.

      Wrong (PDF source [ca.gov], at the top of the 3rd page):

      The Governor has also directed that adults be held to at least the same standards as students for the COVID-19 vaccine. While currently, California requires all K-12 staff to verify their vaccination status or be tested weekly, all staff will be required to be vaccinated no later than when the requirement takes effect for students.

      The current verify-or-test requirement for staff will be converted to a vaccine mandate no later than when the first phase of the student requirement becomes effective.

  • Reading the comments, I have to say the lunacy is alive and well. The pandemic can continue, my continued working from home is secured. As long as there's still idiots who follow conspiracy nuts down rabbit holes and keep the infection numbers high, I should be safe.

    Keep fighting, idiots! Fight against mandated vaccinations, for when the numbers drop, I have to go back to the office.

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