Is the CDC making COVID vaccines mandatory for schoolchildren? No, here’s what to know
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has publicly responded — and shot down — a claim made by Fox News host Tucker Carlson about the agency’s authority to require COVID-19 vaccines for children in school.
On Oct. 18, the political commentator took to Twitter and shared a segment of his Fox News show where he said the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices “is expected to add the COVID-19 vax to the list of childhood vaccines” during a meeting on Thursday, Oct. 20.
“If this happens, your children will not be able to attend school without taking the COVID shot,” Tucker added.
The CDC is about to add the Covid vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule, which would make the vax mandatory for kids to attend school. pic.twitter.com/Ga0EJZIVbI
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 19, 2022
A day later, the CDC addressed Carlson’s Twitter post and denied his claim, writing that it’s up to states to make vaccine requirements for schoolchildren.
Thursday, CDC's independent advisory committee (ACIP) will vote on an updated childhood immunization schedule. States establish vaccine requirements for school children, not ACIP or CDC. More: https://t.co/w80hpKCvtt. https://t.co/xSMZfihtm9
— CDC (@CDCgov) October 19, 2022
Underneath Carlson’s tweet, Twitter showed context from the CDC’s website that states “the CDC immunization schedule is a guideline for commonly recommended childhood vaccinations. Actual required vaccinations are determined by the states, not mandated nationally.”
If the CDC decides to suggest the COVID-19 vaccine for children in school, however, it could pave the way for some states to make the decision to mandate it, ABC News reports.
The CDC lists more information online about state vaccination requirements, and says state vaccination laws enforce vaccine requirements for public schools, private schools, day cares and colleges/universities.
“All states provide medical exemptions, and some state laws also offer exemptions for religious and/or philosophical reasons,” the CDC wrote online. “State laws also establish mechanisms for enforcement of school vaccination requirements and exemptions.”
Children as young as six months old can get a smaller COVID-19 vaccine dose of either Pfizer or Moderna’s shots, according to the CDC.
On Oct. 19, CDC advisors voted to make COVID-19 vaccines a part of the agency’s the Vaccines for Children Program, a federally funded program providing vaccines to children for free, CNBC reported.
The program is for eligible children whose families are unable to get them vaccinated due to barriers in costs, such as a lack of insurance.
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