There will be no Covid-19 vaccine mandate for Catholic school students this school year, Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Superintendent Pamela Lyons announced in a letter to parents this week. The letter came in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement earlier this month that he would add Covid-19 vaccines to those required for school children.
“I can confirm that a mandate for students ages 12 and older would not go into effect until July 1, 2022,” Lyons wrote in an Oct. 14 letter to Catholic school parents, guardians, and staff. Lyons’ letter was written in English and in Spanish and distributed by Catholic schools.
“In the meantime, our Archdiocesan leadership will thoroughly review state requirements in the coming weeks and months and will continue to keep you informed as we gather more information,” Lyons wrote in her letter.
“Thank you for your ongoing partnership, flexibility, and understanding as we navigate this situation. Know that we will continue to prioritize the health, safety, and well-being of our students, staff, and families as we move through this new phase of the pandemic,” Lyons wrote.
Speaking at a San Francisco public school Oct. 1, Newsom announced his plan to add the Covid-19 vaccine to the list of vaccinations required to attend school in-person when the vaccine receives full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administratio for middle and high school grades, making California the first state in the nation to announce such a measure. Newsom said the Covid-19 vaccine will be required for in-person school attendance — just like vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella and more….
The above comes from an Oct. 14 release by the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
I believe this is the same for public schools as well.
Interesting… the Pope (with a degree in Chemistry) uses research and asks the faithful to be vaccinated. He does not imperil those who do not vaccinate with the threat of sin, but implores the faithful’s tradition of acting as a community. Some research on the vaccine came from 1973 fetal cells (not direct fetal tissue). No aborted fetuses are being harvested to create the vaccine. (So if use of abortive materials are the primary issue, why aren’t Catholic Universities helping with developing an alternative? But I digress). So are the Catholic schools superintendents using the religious exception to forestall vaccinating children, or admire for further research, or to placate those more conservative Catholics who have children in those schools (and pay tuition)? God forbid it happen, but how will the parents, schools , community feel if an outbreak happens at a school, and even one child becomes hospitalized or even dies? Will the self righteously be so pious then?
The schools can become PMA’s, Private Membership Associations, and thus avoid all mandates from government. Time to get out of the public and into the private.