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New Hampshire May Be Only New England State That Bans Vaccine Mandates for School Kids
https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-h...ml?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=whatfinger
By Alice Giordano
October 26, 2022 Updated: October 26, 2022
Midterm elections may well decide if America’s public school children will be forced to take the COVID jab.
On Oct. 20, an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the recommended immunization schedule for children and adults.
States still have the right not to follow the CDC recommendation, however. As it stands, there are laws in 21 states that already specifically ban any kind of COVID-19 vaccine mandate in schools.
But laws can be overturned and with 36 gubernatorial races underway in the United States, the future of government-imposed COVID mandates for kids hang in the balance.
In New England, the potential odds could prove life altering for families who oppose COVID vaccines for their children.
Out of the six states that make up the region, New Hampshire is the only one with legislation banning COVID vaccine mandates for students.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, Gov. Chris Sununu, who signed the ban last year, dispelled any possibility that New Hampshire would follow the CDC recommendation to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for children in public schools, pointing out that the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) needs approval from lawmakers to mandate any vaccines.
“NH DHHS has no intention of moving forward with the CDC’s recommendation, and I have been clear and consistent in opposing government-led COVID vaccine mandates,” Sununu said.
His Democratic challenger Tom Sherman has been transparent about his wishes to mandate the shot for Granite State kids, but Sununu is also the only governor on the side of vaccine choice who is not in danger of losing the race.
In Maine, former Republican Gov. Paul LePage is trying to unseat Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, who has imposed some of the nation’s strictest COVID mandates. Maine also is one of a handful states that provide no other exemption—except for medical—to school vaccines, likely meaning that children there will be required to take the COVID jab based on the CDC decision, if Mills stays in office. Currently she is leading LePage in polls by as much as 10 percent.
Last week, LePage took a pledge at the behest of Health Choice Maine not to enforce the COVID-19 add-on to the CDC’s schedule of school immunization.
“I have always believed that Maine parents need to make the best medical decisions for their own children, without interference from the government,” LePage wrote in his pledge. He also criticized Mills’s CDC director for supporting “massive government overreach” with all vaccines.
Massachusetts faces a similar possibility if ultra liberal Attorney General Maura Healey beats out conservative Geoff Diehl in the race for governor. Healey is unmistakably pro-vaccine, mandating her entire staff to get the shot, and in a recent debate with Diehl, suggesting she’d support another pandemic lockdown and masking mandates.
Diehl, who has vowed to restore the job of every state worker fired for not taking the vaccine, was quick to condemn the CDC vote, even releasing a YouTube video on it.
“A student’s ability to enter school should never be tied to this vaccine,” Diehl says in a video in which he also vows to never adopt a vaccine he described as “just out of the clinical phase.”
Healey, however, is leading Diehl by 23 points, according to one poll.
Vermont will likely see the COVID-19 vaccine added to the list of mandatory school shots, regardless of the outcome of its gubernatorial race.
While a Republican, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has enforced CDC vaccine guidelines and was a staunch promoter of the COVID vaccine.
His Democratic challenger Brenda Siegel has campaigned on the platform that Scott wasn’t strict enough with COVID vaccine requirements.
In New England’s most southern states, Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, both Democrats, are also pro-COVID vaccine.
McKee is being challenged by pro-parental rights Republican Ashley Kalus, but so far, she has trailed McKee in poll showings.
Following the CDC vote, Lamont’s Republican challenger Bob Stefanowski pledged he would not require a COVID vaccine for schools in Connecticut, the southernmost New England state.
Stefanowski, who is also trailing his opponent, called upon Lamont to take a similar pledge and as quickly predicted that he would not.
“I would say our governor has tended to follow CDC guidance,” Stefanowski said. “They’re going to recommend it for the states. I’m saying we’ll go against that recommendation if it is, in fact, to mandate it.”
Lamont responded by saying he sees no reason to mandate the COVID vaccine for public school kids, but did not pledge to not require them if reelected.
Like Maine, Connecticut also removed all exemptions except a medical one signed by a doctor from the CDC’s current recommended schedule of school vaccinations.
The other four New England states do allow religious exemptions from school mandated immunizations.
Nationally, 44 states have religious exemptions from school-mandated vaccinations.
California and the District of Columbia have already made the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for public school students, although the DC Council is slated to vote Nov. 1 on a proposal to defer the mandate.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-h...ml?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=whatfinger
By Alice Giordano
October 26, 2022 Updated: October 26, 2022
Midterm elections may well decide if America’s public school children will be forced to take the COVID jab.
On Oct. 20, an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the recommended immunization schedule for children and adults.
States still have the right not to follow the CDC recommendation, however. As it stands, there are laws in 21 states that already specifically ban any kind of COVID-19 vaccine mandate in schools.
But laws can be overturned and with 36 gubernatorial races underway in the United States, the future of government-imposed COVID mandates for kids hang in the balance.
In New England, the potential odds could prove life altering for families who oppose COVID vaccines for their children.
Out of the six states that make up the region, New Hampshire is the only one with legislation banning COVID vaccine mandates for students.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, Gov. Chris Sununu, who signed the ban last year, dispelled any possibility that New Hampshire would follow the CDC recommendation to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for children in public schools, pointing out that the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) needs approval from lawmakers to mandate any vaccines.
“NH DHHS has no intention of moving forward with the CDC’s recommendation, and I have been clear and consistent in opposing government-led COVID vaccine mandates,” Sununu said.
His Democratic challenger Tom Sherman has been transparent about his wishes to mandate the shot for Granite State kids, but Sununu is also the only governor on the side of vaccine choice who is not in danger of losing the race.
In Maine, former Republican Gov. Paul LePage is trying to unseat Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, who has imposed some of the nation’s strictest COVID mandates. Maine also is one of a handful states that provide no other exemption—except for medical—to school vaccines, likely meaning that children there will be required to take the COVID jab based on the CDC decision, if Mills stays in office. Currently she is leading LePage in polls by as much as 10 percent.
Last week, LePage took a pledge at the behest of Health Choice Maine not to enforce the COVID-19 add-on to the CDC’s schedule of school immunization.
“I have always believed that Maine parents need to make the best medical decisions for their own children, without interference from the government,” LePage wrote in his pledge. He also criticized Mills’s CDC director for supporting “massive government overreach” with all vaccines.
Massachusetts faces a similar possibility if ultra liberal Attorney General Maura Healey beats out conservative Geoff Diehl in the race for governor. Healey is unmistakably pro-vaccine, mandating her entire staff to get the shot, and in a recent debate with Diehl, suggesting she’d support another pandemic lockdown and masking mandates.
Diehl, who has vowed to restore the job of every state worker fired for not taking the vaccine, was quick to condemn the CDC vote, even releasing a YouTube video on it.
“A student’s ability to enter school should never be tied to this vaccine,” Diehl says in a video in which he also vows to never adopt a vaccine he described as “just out of the clinical phase.”
Healey, however, is leading Diehl by 23 points, according to one poll.
Vermont will likely see the COVID-19 vaccine added to the list of mandatory school shots, regardless of the outcome of its gubernatorial race.
While a Republican, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has enforced CDC vaccine guidelines and was a staunch promoter of the COVID vaccine.
His Democratic challenger Brenda Siegel has campaigned on the platform that Scott wasn’t strict enough with COVID vaccine requirements.
In New England’s most southern states, Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, both Democrats, are also pro-COVID vaccine.
McKee is being challenged by pro-parental rights Republican Ashley Kalus, but so far, she has trailed McKee in poll showings.
Following the CDC vote, Lamont’s Republican challenger Bob Stefanowski pledged he would not require a COVID vaccine for schools in Connecticut, the southernmost New England state.
Stefanowski, who is also trailing his opponent, called upon Lamont to take a similar pledge and as quickly predicted that he would not.
“I would say our governor has tended to follow CDC guidance,” Stefanowski said. “They’re going to recommend it for the states. I’m saying we’ll go against that recommendation if it is, in fact, to mandate it.”
Lamont responded by saying he sees no reason to mandate the COVID vaccine for public school kids, but did not pledge to not require them if reelected.
Like Maine, Connecticut also removed all exemptions except a medical one signed by a doctor from the CDC’s current recommended schedule of school vaccinations.
The other four New England states do allow religious exemptions from school mandated immunizations.
Nationally, 44 states have religious exemptions from school-mandated vaccinations.
California and the District of Columbia have already made the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for public school students, although the DC Council is slated to vote Nov. 1 on a proposal to defer the mandate.
