California will no longer require children to get a COVID-19 vaccine to attend school, state public health officials said Friday, according to ABC News.
"[The California Department of Public Health] is not currently exploring emergency rulemaking to add COVID-19 to the list of required school vaccinations, but we continue to strongly recommend COVID-19 immunization for students and staff to keep everyone safer in the classroom," the agency said in a statement. "Any changes to required K-12 immunizations are properly addressed through the legislative process."
Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., decreed the policy in 2021 under the agency's recommendation for a mandate, indicating it would eventually apply to all 6.7 million schoolchildren in the state.
When asked by ABC via email about the matter, Newsom's representatives did not respond.
The majority of the state's restrictions have ended. And Newsom will not be able to issue any new ones after Feb. 28, when California's COVID-19 emergency declaration officially ends.
The announcement from state health officials that they are not "exploring" more mandates comes roughly one week after a California judge blocked a law passed last year that would punish physicians for spreading "misinformation or disinformation" about COVID-19.
According to Reuters, last Wednesday, Senior U.S. District Judge William Shubb of Sacramento deemed Assembly Bill 2098, signed by Newsom last October, as overly ambiguous, leaving the medical community uncertain of what statements could potentially result in penalties. Such penalties could result in a physician losing their license.
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