By Thea Trelstad
Working from home, online schooling, millions of deaths and hospitalizations, citywide lockdowns, and a hopelessly overwhelmed medical system. These were the results of the global pandemic known as Covid 19. For so long the light at the end of the tunnel was the vaccine. We thought it would allow everything to go back to normal, allow us all to finally look ahead and put the pandemic behind us. But this all relied on people actually getting the vaccine.
Despite an initial spike of millions across the country getting the vaccine in January 2021 when the vaccine was approved for people 16 and above, there quickly became a lag. Vaccine disinformation, hesitation, and protests occurred across the United States. The federal government pushed for all eligible Americans to get the vaccine with incentives, while state governments took their own individual approaches mostly depending on the majority political party within the state.
As 2021 continued and still millions were refusing the vaccine, private companies and local governments started to implement their own vaccine mandates. Those vaccinated against Covid-19 are ⅕ as likely to be infected with Covid than those who are not vaccinated. Vaccine mandates date back to the American Revolution when George Washington mandated all of his troops get inoculated against smallpox and when the polio vaccine was mandated in all schools. The idea of mandates now stir up claims of being anti-American and undemocratic putting politicians in a tough position to implement a Covid vaccine mandate.
American public schools already require many vaccines including measles, mumps, tetanus, and rubella. So what makes a Covid vaccine requirement any different? Parents say the vaccine is too new, not enough data has been collected, and they want it to be their own choice rather than feel forced to vaccinate their child. However, some districts have taken matters into their own hands and established their own school vaccine mandates.
The Los Angeles Public School system is the first major school district in the United States to mandate Covid vaccines in students 12 and older. According to the LA County Department of Public Health, 58% of students 12 to 18 have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine. Under this mandate all students must have their first dose by November 21 and their second dose by December 19. Another major California city, San Diego has implemented a vaccine mandate for public school students. Both districts were commended by their teacher’s unions, although they faced major pushback from parents.
Despite this progressive action taken by these California school districts, the other two largest school districts in the country have yet to do the same. New York City’s public school system is the largest in the country, containing roughly one million students. However the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, has stated that there will not be a Covid vaccine mandate in NYC schools just yet saying it isn’t the “right thing to do.” The mayor of the country’s second largest school district, Lori Lightfoot, holds the same belief as de Blasio. Lightfoot said it would be “premature” to institute a Covid vaccine in the Chicago public schools. Despite testing within the schools in both districts, cases will continue to rise with unvaccinated students coming into the schools.
