New vaccine mandates pose new questions for how schools are implementing safety for students within the community.
On September 9th, President Biden proposed sweeping mandates that would require over one hundred million Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine in an effort to hinder the surge of COVID-19 deaths while increasing the nation’s vaccination rate to reach herd immunity. These mandates state that all employers with over 100 workers must require vaccinations or weekly testing with negative results. This requirement affects over 80 million Americans. For workers in the executive branch and contractors with the government, it is mandatory that they receive the vaccine which ultimately requires seven million more workers to receive their vaccinations. The road to halting the pandemic in the U.S. requires the vaccination of at least 70% of Americans. As of September 2021, only 55.6% of Americans have been fully vaccinated, making it more difficult to achieve the goal of a pre-COVID-19 lifestyle. Additionally, with the spread of the Delta variant, COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased.
Though certain mandates such as masking for those who are fully vaccinated have been lifted, the effects of the pandemic are still lingering. Nevertheless, for schools, the question of implementing a vaccination mandate remains hotly debated. Currently, students age 5 and older are eligible for the vaccine. Some argue that requiring the vaccine violates medical freedom, while others believe that getting the vaccine benefits communities as a whole. Schools in all fifty states already require a variety of different vaccines for students to be able to attend school every year, such as diphtheria and hepatitis b, meaning that schools and employers are within their legal rights to require COVID-19 vaccines. Los Angeles county, for example, with an astounding student population of 600,000, was the first to require COVID-19 vaccines in schools. At a board announcement, one member said, “I see this as a community necessity to protect the children under twelve who cannot be vaccinated.” However, the New York Times states that some parents are likely to oppose the mandate because “no coronavirus vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 has received full government approval.” Another parent of L.A. said that “it shouldn’t be mandatory, it should be our decision.” These opinions of parents highlight two major reasons why many Americans are against the vaccine: the uncertainty regarding a new vaccine and medical freedom. This skeptical sentiment towards the vaccine also gives reason as to why hospitalizations and deaths for unvaccinated individuals are significantly higher than those for vaccinated individuals. Los Angeles is just one example, but for Pennsylvania, the topic of a mandate such as this one is not as harshly debated compared to other states. For now, Pennsylvania is integrating more vaccine and testing initiatives in an effort to urge more people to be vaccinated without enforcing mandates. However, with so many unvaccinated individuals, we may see stricter requirements and mandates in the future; because at this rate, herd immunity is quite a distant goal.
This page was edited on Nov. 9 2021 at 11:05am to reflect that the vaccine is now currently available to students age 5 and up. At original time of publication, it was available to students 12 and up.
https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/back-school-vaccinations-kids-need.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/08/covid-delta-variant-live-updates/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/us/la-vaccine-mandate-students-schools.html
https://www.abc27.com/back-to-school/school-vaccine-and-testing-initiatives-to-be-announced-today/
