Los Angeles Unified School District sued over student vaccination mandate

The Los Angeles Unified School District has been sued over its mandate that students 12 and older get their COVID-19 shots, a requirement that is illegal for plaintiffs’ attorneys because it allows religious or personal belief exemptions. does not give.

The lawsuit was filed last week on behalf of the parents of a 12-year-old student who claims that their children, along with other LAUSD students who do not comply with the mandate, have been denied individual education with them. will be discriminated against. and the opportunity to participate in extra-curricular programs.

The plaintiffs, who are identified only by the initial GF in court documents, argue that their child will be denied participation in two extracurricular activities she is currently involved in when she attends extracurricular programs for LAUSD students. Misses the LAUSD’s October 31 deadline to receive the second dose. They will be banned from the second semester of campus for not meeting the mid-December deadline for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and all other age-eligible students to receive their second dose.

The complaint states that it would be discriminatory to ban unvaccinated students from campus or extracurricular activities, as vaccinated students and a limited number of non-vaccinated students can continue to attend school in person.

Students with certain medical conditions are exempt from the mandate. Additionally, migrant students, as well as those facing homelessness, who are in foster care or who come from military families, receive “conditional admission” that exempts them from the mandate.

The complaint also states that LAUSD officials do not have authority to require students to receive a vaccine that is not currently on the state’s list of mandatory vaccines for schoolchildren.

Gavin Newsom announced this month that all K-12 students in California must receive their COVID-19 shots when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration administers the vaccine for their age groups or grade spans, such as K-6 or grade spans. gives full approval. 7-12. So far, only the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval for people 16 years of age and older. Children 12-15 can currently be vaccinated under emergency use authorization.

The complaint further states that the district requires eligible students to be vaccinated regardless of whether some students who were previously infected have natural immunity against the coronavirus.

“California law supports current statewide vaccination requirements for school children; however, an individual public school district mandate requires children to receive a vaccine that is not on the state’s immunization list and is not yet FDA-approved. No, for a virus to which many students are already immunized and which usually does not cause serious conditions, and which poses very real health risks to children, is truly unprecedented,” the complaint said. Is.

A spokesperson for LAUSD declined to comment on Thursday, October 14, saying that the district had not prosecuted.

The complaint cites several studies that raise questions about the benefits-versus-risks of administering the COVID-19 vaccine to children and cites rising cases of myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – especially in male adolescents. In.

It also noted a decline in coronavirus cases in the LAUSD since the start of the school year and said that infected children often have mild to no symptoms. Citing data from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Foundation, the complaint said just under 1% of children in reporting states with COVID-19 were hospitalized as of September 2.

Meanwhile, LAUSD officials have emphasized that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks.

This week, during a presentation to the school board about vaccination, Dr. Robert Gilchik of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health noted that in August, vaccinated youth ages 12 to 17 were diagnosed with the coronavirus per 100,000 people. There were 300 positive cases. More than 2,000 cases per 100,000 people in this age group have not been vaccinated. The hospitalization rate among vaccinated people in this age group was 0.3 per 100,000 people versus 10 per 100,000 non-vaccinated people.

They also cited US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data that showed that among 16- and 17-year-olds, the incidence of myocarditis was 8 per 1 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine for women and 73 per 1 million doses nationally. per 1 million doses. At the same time, for every 1 million vaccine doses, the prevention of COVID-19 cases was 77,800 in women and 56,700 in men, and the prevention of hospitalization was 520 in women and 500 in men, according to the presentation.