The Antelope Valley Times

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Newsom mandates COVID vaccines for students to attend in-person instruction

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Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a first-in-the-nation mandate Friday requiring eligible students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend in-person classes at public and private schools.

The requirement, however, will not take effect right away. The mandate will be phased in beginning the school term after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives full authorization for the vaccine’s use on children aged 12 and over, meaning the policy likely won’t take effect until next year, potentially not until the fall, beginning with kids in grades 7 and up.

The requirement for students in kindergarten through sixth grade will not take effect until a vaccine receives approval for younger children. The Pfizer vaccine is currently fully authorized for people aged 16 and up. It is offered only under an emergency-use authorization for those aged 12-15.

Newsom said religious and medical exemptions will be permitted under the state’s mandate. The mandate will also apply to all school staff as soon as it kicks in for students. School teachers and staff in the state are already required to be either vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID testing.

The mandate will eliminate the testing option.

“While there continues to be encouraging signs and continuing to see progress with more and more people who maybe were on the fence, that are now getting the vaccine … there’s still a struggle to get to where we need to go, and that means we need to do more and we need to do better,” Newsom said while making the announcement Friday.

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41 comments for "Newsom mandates COVID vaccines for students to attend in-person instruction"

  1. I would hope to see educators, first responders, and all Local, State, and Government employees forced to vaccinate before mandating childern to be vaccinated to attend school.

        • Vaccinate or weekly testing is effectively mandating vaccination, because everyone knows that the weekly testing is not going to be publicly funded for long and as soon as “pay for weekly testing” comes down all the political grandstanding is going to come to a screeching halt.

          But sure, ya got me…congrats.

          • So when we can see equal enforcement upon teachers and their unions and the children, I’ll believe it then.
            The unions are already bitching about the mandate. And we know they are in the rats pockets big time.

            It’s who it’s heavily enforced upon that matters here.

        • Yes Beecee, all students and teachers in California are mandated to receive the vaccine. If parents don’t want to have their children vaccinated then home-school.

      • If you were paying attention they are fighting the mandate.

        Dude you are clearly a bully in this forum and shame on The Antelope Valley Times for allowing it.

        I’ll bet your attitude changes when in person lol

  2. Parents need to be the ones to make decision for their own kids. The Government or the state have no right to say other wise. The state will continue to have a mass exodus if people don’t push back. The Government is taking more and more of peoples freedom in the disguise as safety. Their has not be enough research on this to force people and now even worse your children!

    • My family and I don’t trust the vaccine yet, we don’t know the long term affects yet so to mandate my 10 granddaughters get this vaccine we will not bow down. There is no way the scientist know the long lasting affects on the babies yet to be born or the babies yet to be conceived. So if we have to leave the state so be it to protect my granddaughters and their future children. You can count on it when we leave it will be at least 8 families going with me which I sure will make Newsome happy he can have it all for all we care.

      • Don’t let the door hit you all in the butt.

        As to your “long term concerns,” welcome to real life. The current term facts are indisputable. States with low vaccination rates (like the ones you want to move to) are killing their citizens at five times the rate of California TODAY.

        Meanwhile, if all of your grown children with kids of their own will overturn their lives just on your say so you DEFINITELY didn’t raise them right, so, great, get them on up out of here.

    • I agree. Parents should be able to avail themselves of education for their children safely, without having to worry that children of people who are willing to ignore science and risk their own children’s health cannot endanger theirs.

      If you want to make a political statement and risk your children’s health, fine. Just keep them home.

        • There are no 100% effective vaccines for anything. But you are much less likely to get it at all if you are vaccinated, and even if you do get it, the severity of your illness will be reduced.

          Why is that hard to understand?

          I really think you and everyone else who use this argument are grasping at straws.

          • Hasn’t everyone who has had the flu shot never had the flu? What??? That’s not how it works?? Lol. Seriously people, to say vaccines don’t work because people got covid who had the vaccine really makes u look stupid. Are u not able to compare it with other vaccines and know they aren’t 100%. Pull your head out people.

        • Look at the data.

          EVERY state with a high mortality rate over the past week is a red state with a strong “but muh freedumbs” movement and a governor that (while vaccinated themselves) has dithered along and let their citizens kill each other by refusing to defeat the pandemic.

          EVERY state with a low mortality rate has a high vaccination rate.

          EVERY

          SINGLE

          ONE

          Republican darling Ron DeSantis is killing people at FIVE TIMES the rate they are dying in California. Trump is congratulating him for “showing Biden can’t beat the pandemic either.” The ‘proof’ is measured in dead Floridians, and dead Texans. Trump has turned the GOP into a death cult.

          If you genuinely can’t put that two and two together and get to four, then just die, and clear the gene pool.

  4. Vaccine mandates are working in California; I’m thankful. I feel so sorry for all the humans in Texas because they have the highest death rate. I wish this state could learn from California.

    • Where do you get your info? A quick search will show that while Texas is higher than California, its still ranked 20th in the nation. If you’re trying to draw parallels between lock downs/no lock downs, good luck. The top 5 state death rates are Mississippi, New Jersey, Louisiana, Alabama, and New York.

      • Overall, sure. New York and New Jersey got smashed in the first days of the first wave, and their rates are never going to be good in the totals. But they are also very low if you look at July-September. The hazards of being the nations number one port of entry; covid was in and killing there before anything could be done to stop it.

        Death is in business NOW in Texas on the other hand, and business is booming. The sad part being that as of right now EVERY SINGLE DEATH that happens was preventable.

      • I’m not drawing parallels between lock downs/no lock downs. I’m saying vaccine mandates are working in California, and anti vaccine/no masks sentiment is causing deaths.

  5. Newson just loves to play God and the more power we give him by not standing up for ourselves the less power we will have over our lives. Maybe you agree with the vaccine and that’s fine but sooner or later he will mandate something you don’t like and you won’t be able to do anything about it because you gave all your power away so easily with no resistance. We should be able to decide over what happens to our body’s not the government. If you got the vaccine you should still be wearing your mask and taking precautions just because you got the vaccine doesn’t mean you can walk on water and you are untouchable.

    • There are all kinds of things I don’t like that I do in order to live in a functional society.

      If I am walking through a store and see some really tasty looking item, I don’t just pick it up and bite it.

      If someone makes it clear that they are intentionally making people, including me, unhappy and angry I don’t just give them the satisfaction of beating them to death.

      And if a disease negatively impacts the entire society and science tells me how to mitigate that and get back to normal, I just do what I’m told, despite that being very far from my normal behavior.

  6. Not sure this should/can be done through executive fiat.
    If I’m not mistaken previous vaccination mandates for children (which there are) were passed through legislation.
    It’s quite apparent that this government is completely controlled and bought by the teachers unions.
    Not sure they will get the result they are looking for.

    • You might be right about previous mandates and I am too lazy to look it up. What I do know is that the emergency powers act that Newsom (properly) put into effect last year gives the executive branch more than sufficient authority. Everyone whining (in all the states) about the “executive over reach” issues needs to take a close look at the emergency powers acts that were in fact enacted by the various legislatures. This has not been any “seizure of power,” the legislatures in years gone by just abdicated their responsibilities in advance.

  7. Get down on your knees and Bow to the Dictator! Soon, your kids will be mandated to take CRT, watch Mandated State Approved Social Media, be taught Socialism (already in the works), and serve the Democratic Socialist Party as we see fit! Our plan is working!! You shall conform to our demands! Thank You everyone who voted against the recall to support our agenda of control!

    • Sure man. There’s been vaccine mandates longer than I have been alive, which is a long freakin’ time, but if you wanna go all “sign of the apocalypse” drama go ahead and knock yourself out.

      You look ridiculous though, just so you know.

        • Yeah those are permanent. I was just telling my kids and some of their friends how at some point in the first few days of school every year the teacher would walk around the class and check everyone’s arm, and if your scar was too high up you had to pull up your sleeve because if they didn’t see the scar they would call your parents to bring your shot record. I remember being totally amazed when my kids were born that they didn’t need a smallpox vaccination.

          Man can outsmart a disease, but not when our team is saddled with Trumpists.

    • Hey, you ThalShall….

      In case you’ve noticed or are paying attention at all, the Democrats can’t even agree amongst themselves on some of the bills.

      An, you think they will control everyone’s lives. They can’t control Manchin or Simena.

      Boy, the 6th grade is gonna be difficult for ya.

      I suspect that you like most of your ilk wouldn’t experience freedom if it sat on your face. You folks are imprisoned in your own minds and you think everyone else is doing it to ya.

      • “In case you’ve noticed or are paying attention at all, the Democrats can’t even agree amongst themselves on some of the bills”

        Relax bud, we can sense the anger from afar, don’t take it out on thoushall.

        • Says Sonja aka Pu$$y. You’ve had a burr under your saddle ever since you first showed up here. Tell us about anger.

          Thoushall deserved it. Read his post.

        • What do you think they should do about that Sonya? Maybe go the Rupublican party route and censure them? Shake their fingers at them and let them know they are being disobedient? Does that work for you guys or should they not bother. I mean it is the Republicans go to move in this type of situation right?

    • You do realize that all governments, irrespective of type, are socialist constructs, don’t you?

      I’m gonna guess not, as it is clear that you don’t even know the meanings of the words you use. This makes it equally clear that you have no clue in life and are just one of the NPCs running around.

    • Ummmm….. Are u new to California? They already are, but some of their unions are trying to fight it in court.