Why California is delaying its vaccine mandate for schools

Under the new timeline, California’s vaccine requirement will not take effect until at least July 1, 2023, and after full approval of the vaccine for children by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “to ensure sufficient time for successful implementation of new vaccine requirements,” the California Department of Public Health said in a statement on Thursday…

California’s official statement on the reasons for the delay downplays any political aspect, focusing entirely on the logistics of the rule. Nevertheless, the debate over vaccine mandates in schools is the latest example of intense polarization over pandemic safety restrictions. While 70% of Democrats favor requiring students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, just 17% of Republicans do, according to a new poll by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Parents of children attending K-12 schools were also less likely than others to support vaccine or mask mandates in school, the poll found.

At the same time, the vaccination rate among American children has stalled: So far, just 28% of 5-to-11-year-olds and 58% of 12-to-17-year-olds are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics analysis of CDC data. And some public-health experts say school vaccine requirements could be key to changing that.