New York bill would require Covid vaccine for children to attend school

New York State Senator Brad Hoylman wants to force Covid-19 vaccines on schoolchildren.

The New York Daily News reports that the Manhattan lawmaker, a Democrat, on Tuesday introduced a bill that would require children to be vaccinated so they can go to school once the injections receive full federal approval. The mandate, if passed by the Legislature and enacted by Governor Kathy Hochul, would add coronavirus vaccines to the list of vaccines required to attend schools or daycare centers, including polio, mumps, measles and diphtheria.

“I think the best way to fight Covid is to make sure there is a highly vaccinated community and we can do that with a schoolchildren warrant once federal authorities approve it,” said Hoylman at the Daily News.

The United States Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for people 16 and older on Monday. Pfizer’s vaccine still has emergency use approval for 12 to 15 year olds, while none of the vaccines have yet been approved in the United States for children under 12.

The mandate would take effect 30 days after full FDA approval of a Covid vaccine and if the CDC’s advisory committee on vaccination practices adds them to its vaccination schedule. According to the Daily News, the NYS legislature is not expected to sit in Albany until January, so there is a possibility that further federal action will be taken before the bill is even passed.

On her first day as governor of New York City, Hochul said Tuesday she would ask the state Department of Health to require universal masking in schools for anyone inside buildings. A letter signed by nine pediatricians, infectious disease doctors and public health experts said the masks can protect children and teachers from the highly transmissible Delta variant which is leading to increased hospitalizations.

Hoylman said he believes getting everyone vaccinated is the best way to prevent the development and spread of more dangerous variants.

“If not all eligible people get vaccinated, we risk a deadly variant that could have huge impacts on populations that have so far escaped most of the ravages of the coronavirus, namely children and young adults.” , he told the Daily News.