COVID Likely Joining Vaccine List Next Year
Pending full FDA approval, COVID-19 vaccination will be required to attend school in SJUSD.
By Mia Howell
Pending full FDA approval, COVID-19 vaccination will be required to attend school in SJUSD.
By Mia Howell
Throughout the pandemic, California has been the first state to pass several COVID-19-related mandates and restrictions. California has become one of 10 states to move out of thehigh community transmission category, according to a data chart provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Now that vaccines exist for children as young as five, the San Jose Unified School District website says the COVID-19 vaccine will be mandated once it’s fully FDA-approved. The requirement is not expected to go into effect until the 2022-2023 school year.
One of the many ways California leads the nation is through vaccination rates. According to the Santa Clara Department of Public Health, 83% of county residents 12 or older are fully vaccinated. California has also maintained one of the lowest seven-day case rates per 1,000 people. As of Dec. 6, the state of California has had 31,149 cases in the past week.
On Oct. 29, the Food and Drug Administration emergency approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged five and up. Governor Gavin Newsom announced a plan to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for middle and high school grades following its full FDA approval. On Oct. 1, at a school in San Francisco, Newsom approved an order mandating the vaccine.
“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,” said Newsom at the signing.
In a letter written for parents with school-aged children, Sara H. Cody, the health officer and director for the Santa Clara Public Health Department and Mary Ann Dewan, the County Superintendent of Schools, said:
“With COVID-19 in the community, and especially with the recent surge of cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant, we have seen and will continue to see some COVID-19 cases in schools. However, the relatively high vaccination rates in the community, plus the many other layers of protection we have in place in schools, will help keep people as healthy as possible in school and elsewhere.”
The CDC website has a similar message:
“With other variants, like Delta, vaccines have remained effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. The recent emergence of Omicron further emphasizes the importance of vaccination and boosters.”
Opinions on an additional mandated vaccine vary on campus.
“There are already a handful of vaccines that are already required, so it’s not anything new. It’s just adding to that list of something that we already do. It’s clearly been proven to be safe and effective. I think it would obviously keep all our students and staff members a lot safer,” said English Department Chair Beth Stafford. “I think it makes sense. It’s something we already do, I support it. I will definitely feel a lot safer next year knowing that all of my students are vaccinated.”
SJUSD has long mandated that students be immunized, and the current list for K-12 students includes measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, hepatitis-B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and polio.
While Stafford is in full support of the mandate, other teachers on campus are still undecided. Science Department Chair Steve Boyd still has some doubts about enforcing a mandate for the vaccine.
“I don’t know how I feel about it yet. I mean I get it because we already have a vaccine mandate,” said Boyd. “So, are they going to add COVID-19 on top of it? I can see where that’s the next logical step, but it’s so new whereas the other vaccines have years and years and years of research behind them...that’s my only hesitation about it. It’s just a tough pill for me to swallow to say, ‘no, everyone must do it.’”
Not only do teachers have opinions about enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine, but students on campus do too.
“I think it would benefit lots of people such as grandparents, immunocompromised people, and others. It might even help us get back to a normal life, maybe even without masks. But there are some people who don’t believe in it and might still refuse to get it. What would happen if someone refused? Would they have to move even if the rest of their family had gotten the vaccine?” said Jenna Salles-Cunha, 9. “I have some doubts, but ultimately I think it would be a good thing to have so that we can move forward with our lives.”
On the other hand, some students, like Jacob Tipton, 12, are completely against the idea of a vaccine mandate.
“I believe that everyone should be allowed to choose for themselves whether they get vaccinated to protect themselves or not and not have to fear being excluded from essential activities as a consequence. Let us not forget that freedom of choice is deeply an American value. If you want to protect yourself, do so. If you’re hesitant for any reason, that is the business of no government,” said Tipton.
Now that vaccines exist for children as young as five, the San Jose Unified School District website says the COVID-19 vaccine will be mandated once it’s fully FDA-approved. The requirement is not expected to go into effect until the 2022-2023 school year.
One of the many ways California leads the nation is through vaccination rates. According to the Santa Clara Department of Public Health, 83% of county residents 12 or older are fully vaccinated. California has also maintained one of the lowest seven-day case rates per 1,000 people. As of Dec. 6, the state of California has had 31,149 cases in the past week.
On Oct. 29, the Food and Drug Administration emergency approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged five and up. Governor Gavin Newsom announced a plan to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for middle and high school grades following its full FDA approval. On Oct. 1, at a school in San Francisco, Newsom approved an order mandating the vaccine.
“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,” said Newsom at the signing.
In a letter written for parents with school-aged children, Sara H. Cody, the health officer and director for the Santa Clara Public Health Department and Mary Ann Dewan, the County Superintendent of Schools, said:
“With COVID-19 in the community, and especially with the recent surge of cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant, we have seen and will continue to see some COVID-19 cases in schools. However, the relatively high vaccination rates in the community, plus the many other layers of protection we have in place in schools, will help keep people as healthy as possible in school and elsewhere.”
The CDC website has a similar message:
“With other variants, like Delta, vaccines have remained effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. The recent emergence of Omicron further emphasizes the importance of vaccination and boosters.”
Opinions on an additional mandated vaccine vary on campus.
“There are already a handful of vaccines that are already required, so it’s not anything new. It’s just adding to that list of something that we already do. It’s clearly been proven to be safe and effective. I think it would obviously keep all our students and staff members a lot safer,” said English Department Chair Beth Stafford. “I think it makes sense. It’s something we already do, I support it. I will definitely feel a lot safer next year knowing that all of my students are vaccinated.”
SJUSD has long mandated that students be immunized, and the current list for K-12 students includes measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, hepatitis-B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and polio.
While Stafford is in full support of the mandate, other teachers on campus are still undecided. Science Department Chair Steve Boyd still has some doubts about enforcing a mandate for the vaccine.
“I don’t know how I feel about it yet. I mean I get it because we already have a vaccine mandate,” said Boyd. “So, are they going to add COVID-19 on top of it? I can see where that’s the next logical step, but it’s so new whereas the other vaccines have years and years and years of research behind them...that’s my only hesitation about it. It’s just a tough pill for me to swallow to say, ‘no, everyone must do it.’”
Not only do teachers have opinions about enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine, but students on campus do too.
“I think it would benefit lots of people such as grandparents, immunocompromised people, and others. It might even help us get back to a normal life, maybe even without masks. But there are some people who don’t believe in it and might still refuse to get it. What would happen if someone refused? Would they have to move even if the rest of their family had gotten the vaccine?” said Jenna Salles-Cunha, 9. “I have some doubts, but ultimately I think it would be a good thing to have so that we can move forward with our lives.”
On the other hand, some students, like Jacob Tipton, 12, are completely against the idea of a vaccine mandate.
“I believe that everyone should be allowed to choose for themselves whether they get vaccinated to protect themselves or not and not have to fear being excluded from essential activities as a consequence. Let us not forget that freedom of choice is deeply an American value. If you want to protect yourself, do so. If you’re hesitant for any reason, that is the business of no government,” said Tipton.