additional work over that done in the adult studies, including ensuring that the vaccine dosage and formulation strength used is the appropriate one from the perspective of safety and generating an immune response. We have to let the science and data guide us. The FDA is working around the clock to support the process for making COVID-19 vaccines available for children.”
Another concern is a rare side effect of the Pfizer vaccine, called myocarditis, that affects the heart and disproportionately strikes young men, some public health experts have pointed out.
Reopen California Schools — which sued to prevent mask mandates, virus testing and quarantines — said on Thursday that numerous legal challenges to the vaccine mandate are expected.
While the vaccines cannot guarantee a virus-free school environment, vaccinated people are less likely to be infected with the coronavirus. And if they do get COVID-19, studies have shown they are far less likely to become seriously ill than unvaccinated people.
All states mandate childhood vaccines for school children, such as those for polio, measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox, the Times notes.
But Angelica Ramos, 29, a mother of three public school students in South Los Angeles, tells the Times she would send her children to a charter school or home-school them before having them vaccinated.
“It shouldn’t be mandatory,” Ramos says. “It should be our decision.”
Other California cities have already approved a vaccine mandate or are considering one.
Whether other large cities will follow L.A.’s example remains to be seen. The mayors of New York City and Chicago have said