LOS ANGELES (NewsNation Now) — More than a thousand California parents and teachers sounded off against the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students at protests at the state capitol and at school district headquarters around the state.
California’s Gavin Newsom is the only governor in the U.S. to announce a vaccine requirement for students.
“Parents are given no choice on what to do to send our kids in school,” a parent told NewsNation affiliate KTLA at a protest. “So if this comes down to not allowing our children to go to school because they have to have a shot, we will definitely be taking him out of school and they’ll be home-schooled.”
The statewide “sit out” keeping kids home from school in protest was organized by a new group called Moms on the Ground, which insists that parents should make decisions on all shots for their kids.
“To me, it makes no logical sense,” Parisa Fishback of Moms on the Ground said. “Why does my child have to be vaccinated for something that he is not likely to contract, let alone have serious injury or death from?”
“There’s 10 vaccines (already required for students), measles, mumps, rubella, I could go on and on and on,” Newsom said in response to complaining parents. “So, this is just another vaccine.”
Some of the parents NewsNation spoke with pointed to the fact no vaccine is FDA-approved for people under the age of 18, though the California mandate does not take effect until it is approved. That could come in time for the start of the next school year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends vaccination for everyone over the age of 12.
After losing her husband to COVID-19, Kathleen Lancaster told NewsNation she supports the mandate, and questions those who don’t.
“My kids can’t go to school without vaccines, you can’t join the military without standing in line and getting poked about 20 times,” Lancaster said.
NewsNation affiliate KTLA contributed to this report.