Activist groups held a rally against vaccine mandates for schoolchildren in Huntington Beach in January.Credit…Mike Blake/Reuters
In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California would become the first state to require all schoolchildren to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
That turned out to be easier said than done.
Newsom’s mandate hinged on the federal Food and Drug Administration’s granting full approval to the vaccines for all school-age children, which has yet to happen. So California officials announced late last week that they were pushing implementation of the new rule from this summer to July 2023 at the earliest.
The announcement has already sewn doubts about whether local school districts can enforce their own vaccine mandates without the state. The status of Los Angeles Unified’s requirement is now in question, as is Oakland Unified’s. San Diego Unified officials say they will still enact theirs starting in the fall.
State officials say they made the decision because the F.D.A. has so far granted full approval for Covid vaccines only for people older than 15, and because school administrators were worried they didn’t have enough time to implement the mandate.
But the delay also comes as support for new vaccination requirements and other coronavirus precautions appears to be waning in California, as we settle into this latest phase of the pandemic.
Last week, California leaders said they had no plans to toughen mask or testing rules despite a recent rise in Covid-19 cases. A state senator pulled his bill that would have prevented parents from opting out of childhood Covid vaccines for anything other than medical reasons. And last month, a vaccine mandate for all public and private sector employees was also shelved by its legislative sponsor.
“There’s a sort of Covid mitigation fatigue,” Kevin Gordon, a longtime lobbyist for California school districts, told The Times. “People are just sort of done with it now.”
Indeed, in California, officials have already transitioned from treating the coronavirus as an emergency to a manageable risk, which is essentially a more hands-off approach.
This aligns with a nationwide trend that my colleague Benjamin Mueller called the “the choose-your-own-adventure period of the pandemic.” In his article published on today’s front page, Benjamin writes that Americans are increasingly being forced to make their own, very complicated risk calculations when it comes to Covid, as communitywide pandemic guidance fades away.
In California, officials maintain that they are not backing down from the K-12 vaccine mandate, and that planning to roll it out for the 2023-24 school year will give them time to work out the kinks.
Whenever it is implemented, a childhood vaccination mandate will undoubtedly help close a yawning gap in immunization rates in the state.
Currently, 80 percent of adults in California are fully vaccinated (not including a booster) against the coronavirus. Among children ages 5 to 11, just 35 percent are.
For more:
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Check Covid-19 vaccination rates in your community.
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I’ve written before about why we’re particularly bad at making our own Covid risk calculations.
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Pfizer announced last week that a booster shot significantly strengthens the immune response of children ages 5 to 11.
If you read one story, make it this
Los Angeles and other cities are rethinking the value, and the harm, of minor traffic stops.
The rest of the news
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Single-use plastics only: A new ballot initiative would require all single-use plastics to be recyclable, reusable, refillable or compostable by 2030, The Los Angeles Times reports.
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Job growth: The number of unemployed people in California dipped below one million for the first time since the start of the pandemic, The Associated Press reports.
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Grocery workers contract: California grocery store workers ratified a deal that will grant higher wages, better health benefits and secured pensions, The Associated Press reports.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
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A coveted invite in Los Angeles: Benny Blanco, a Grammy-nominated songwriter and music producer, has been preparing dozens of dinner parties for the better part of a year.
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Santa Ana police: The Santa Ana Police Department is conducting an investigation into officers who played Disney music to prevent being recorded, The Guardian reports.
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
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“Massive takedown”: The California authorities arrested 47 suspected gang members accused of drive-by shootings, murder and funding their illicit activities in the Central Valley through prostitution rings and the sale of guns and narcotics, The Associated Press reports.
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Stolen water: The former general manager of a San Joaquin Valley water district is accused of stealing more than $25 million in federally owned water, The Associated Press reports.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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Spring snow: A storm brought several feet of snow to Sierra Nevada ski resorts, The Associated Press reports.
What we’re eating
No better way to turn three pounds of pork shoulder into dinner.
Where we’re traveling
Today’s tip comes from Lauren Chu, who lives in San Mateo:
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to [email protected]. We’ll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.
Tell us
We’ve recently been publishing your notes about why you love your corner of California.
If you’d like to submit a love letter to your California city, neighborhood or region — or to the Golden State as a whole — please email us at [email protected]. We’ll keep sharing your missives in the newsletter.
And before you go, some good news
Next time you visit downtown Los Angeles, stop by the nation’s first museum dedicated to Mexican food.
The recently opened La Plaza Cocina hosts cooking classes and cultural events, with the ultimate goal of expanding and highlighting people’s knowledge of Mexican cuisine, The Guardian reports.
“It’s more than tacos,” Ximena Martin, one of the curators, told the news outlet. Each region of Mexico “needs to be celebrated and acknowledged.”
Thanks for starting your week with me. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Soumya
P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Like 2021 and 2023, but not 2022 (3 letters).
Jonah Candelario and Mariel Wamsley contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].
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