There will be no vaccine mandate for the 2022-23 school year
Sen. Richard Pan announced that he has held Senate Bill 871, which would have added COVID-19 vaccinations to the list of required immunizations for school-aged children, without a personal belief exemption.
“Until children’s access to COVID vaccination is greatly improved, I believe that a state-wide policy to require COVID vaccination in schools is not the immediate priority, although it is an appropriate safety policy for many school districts in communities with good vaccine access,” Pan said.
He stated that while Senate Bill 871 will not move forward, the Legislature still needs to enact policies to protect California’s children from COVID-19, and shared his support for measures that establish school-based COVID testing plans, a statewide immunization registry and vaccine access for minors ages 12-17.
Earlier this year, legislation seeking to impose a workplace vaccine mandate (Assembly Bill 1933 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks) was also pulled back by the author.
