Yesterday Governor John Bel Edwards rejected a decision made by the House Committee on Health and Welfare to not require Louisiana students to be vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning the vaccination will be added to the school immunization schedule.
The governor’s office says all current opt-out provisions for parents will remain in place, meaning no child will be forced to get vaccinated if their parents object to it in writing.
Edwards wrote to the committee chair that he understood any issue around COVID-19, especially those that involve children, could be divisive, and asked that everyone work with him to get more people in Louisiana vaccinated. Edwards added that it was worth noting that while many of the diseases on the public health immunization schedule were once both rampant and deadly, they are no longer serious risks for school age children in Louisiana because almost everyone was vaccinated against those diseases, many as a condition for attending elementary school.
