(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Nearly a dozen different states across the nation have rejected or are expected to reject an official recommendation for COVID vaccination requirements in schools.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to add COVID shots to the children’s immunization schedule, allowing some schools and states to require the vaccine in order to attend.
According to the Daily Signal, however, 11 states are also taking this opportunity to prohibit schools from requiring COVID vaccinations in order for students to attend.
The Wyoming Department of Health, along with Gov. Mark Gordon, responded to the CDC’s vote saying they will not be listing the guidance.
“Wyoming has no plans to pursue adding [a] COVID vaccine to its required list,” Gordon’s spokesman, Michael Pearlman, told the Cowboy State Daily. “The governor has not mandated vaccines for adults or children, and believes that COVID-19 vaccination is a personal choice.”
On the other side of the nation, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares issued a legal statement clarifying that the state gets to make those decisions.
“The CDC cannot force vaccine requirements on Virginia families as a condition of school attendance,” the statement read, according to the Center Square. “Required immunizations for school and child care attendance statewide are determined by the General Assembly and the Virginia Department of Health.”
Several states, such as Montana, are taking the opportunity to go a step farther by passing laws which make it illegal to deny “educational opportunities” based on vaccination status.
Indiana and Florida have similar laws.
“This is just another example of how out of touch the federal government and its agencies are with everyday families,” Arizona’s Republican Senate President Karen Fann said of the CDC’s move, according to Just the News.
“With Republicans currently in control of our state government, we can promise that we will never subject Arizonans to the requirement of an experimental vaccine that has raised questions over long-term health implications,” she added.
