California school COVID-19 vaccine mandate: What to know
LA TimesGavin Newsom issued a mandate Friday requiring all eligible public and private school students in California to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Here are the basics of how it will work: The mandate would take effect for grades 7 through 12 the semester after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the vaccine for children 12 and older. The mandate could take effect for students 12 and older as early as January if there is full federal approval for a COVID-19 vaccine for that age range no later than December. Children ages 12 to 15 have been able to receive Pfizer shots since May after the FDA authorized the doses for emergency use in that age group, with full approval widely anticipated by November. Although a majority of Los Angeles parents appear to have accepted the school district’s vaccine mandate for those 12 and older, thousands have not, based on recent vaccination rates.