California Will Not Require COVID Vaccines for School Attendance

California will not require COVID-19 vaccines for school attendance, according to a statement from the California Department of Public Health.

The statement says that 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.”

“Any changes to required K-12 immunizations are properly addressed through the legislative process,” it goes on to say.

California won't make children get the coronavirus vaccine to attend schools, state public health officials said, reversing a state policy first announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. https://t.co/aASC7NC249

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 4, 2023

With the end of the COVID-19 emergency period in California on February 28, Governor Newsom will no longer be able to quickly authorize any new pandemic-related restrictions.

“The public’s appetite for these kinds of mandates is definitely not what it used to be,” said lobbyist Kevin Gordon. “If you started to now impose a heavy mandate when the amount of transmission is significantly lower than it was statewide, a one-size-fits-all solution doesn’t work right now.”