Parents, teachers protest California COVID-19 vaccine mandate in schools

Dozens of parents, teachers and some children took part in a series of protests outside various Southland school campuses as part of a statewide “sit-out” or “walk-out” effort to denounce a mandate requiring all K-12 students in California to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Outside Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, protesters marched along the sidewalk outside the school, carrying signs reading “My Body, My Choice,” “Our kids are not lab rats” and “Stop the mandate LAUSD.” A young student held a sign saying “Don’t kick me out of my school.”

As they marched, participants chanted slogans such as “Our children, our choice.” Some passing motorists honked their horns in support.

Similar protests were held outside schools across California, with the walk outs organized in protest of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announced coronavirus vaccine mandate for students. The requirement will take effect once a vaccine receives “full approval” from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for all impacted age groups.

Pfizer’s vaccine has full FDA approval for those 16 years and up, and is offered to those as young as age 12 under an emergency use authorization.

“While there continues to be encouraging signs and we’re 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 when he announced the mandate.

He said the proposed mandate is “about protecting our children and school staff, and keeping them in the classroom.” He said depending on when full authorizations for the vaccines are granted by the FDA, the mandate would take effect on Jan. 1, or July 1, 2022.

One protester in Van Nuys Monday morning told KNX Newsradio the rally was not designed to be anti-vaccination, just in opposition to the mandate requiring the shots for students. A Los Angeles Unified School District employee told the station she was forced to get vaccinated due to the district’s mandate for staff, and she did not want her children’s education to be potentially threatened over the issue.

LAUSD students age 12 and older who take part in in-person extracurricular programs were required to receive their first dose by Oct. 3 and their second no later than Oct. 31. All other students aged 12 and up must receive their first dose by Nov. 21, and their second by Dec. 19.

Younger students will have to receive their first dose no later than 30 days after their 12th birthday, and their second dose no later than eight weeks after turning 12.

The mandate applies to all district students, along with charter school students on co-located district school facilities. Students “with qualified and approved exemptions under LAUSD’s existing immunization policies” will be exempt.

Meanwhile, district staffer, including teachers, were required by Monday to receive at least one dose of COVID vaccine, and the second is required by Nov. 15.

Workers who do not have the single dose reported by Monday will be unable to return to work, however, they will not be subject to termination until Nov. 1. Any employees who fail to receive the second dose by Nov. 15 will be “subject to separation from district service.”

The LAUSD reported Friday that 97% of district administrators and 97% of classroom teachers had loaded their vaccination status into the district’s Daily Pass system as of midday Friday, along with 95% of classified supervisors, such as administrative assistants, plant managers and cafeteria managers.

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