On October 1st 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California would be the first state to add the Covid-19 vaccine to the list of vaccines required to receive in-person education.

Speaking at a school in Sacramento, the Governor said, “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. Today’s measures, just like our first-in-the-nation school masking and staff vaccination requirements, is about protecting our children and school staff, and keeping them in the classroom. 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.”

This vaccination requirement would kick into effect for students grades K-6 and 7-12 in the term following full FDA approval of the vaccination for each respective age group. According to the governor, there will be both religious and medical exemptions for the Covid-19 vaccine, but unvaccinated students without such exemptions will not be able to continue in-person education on campus.

Opposition to vaccination mandates persists throughout the nation. Last month at the state capitol over one thousand people gathered to protest against it. Many parents believe that the mandate of a vaccination on children is an infringement of personal rights and continue to speak out against such procedures.

Though these mandates will be statewide, individual school districts, including Los Angeles and San Diego have already imposed their own vaccination mandates. According to Dr. Monica Gandhi, “We’re never going to get an eradication with this virus, but the higher the immunity, the better.”

Editor’s Note: We know this is a controversial subject! Our aim is to simply write about events as they happen, and we hope that our readers will take advantage of this opportunity to discuss these things with their parents!