State Sen. Richard Pan's new bill to treat students' COVID-19 vaccinations like measles vaccinations — as mandatory, with no "personal belief" exemptions — is logical given how disruptive the pandemic has been. Even if kids are less likely than older people to get very sick if infected, they can still transmit the virus to the hundreds of thousands of Californians with compromised immune systems and to the millions who are at major risk because they refuse vaccinations or aren't fully vaccinated.
Unfortunately, it appears Gov. Gavin Newsom could be preparing for an encore of his 2019 showdown with Pan, a Sacramento pediatrician, over how the state should respond to the massive increase in medical exemptions to student vaccine mandates after personal belief exemptions were banned. Parents were clearly going "doctor shopping" for physicians who were selling such exemptions. But Newsom repeatedly pressured Pan to weaken his bill, instead of choosing to lead on it.
Here we go again. The state school vaccine mandate Newsom unveiled in October included the personal belief loophole, and ever since he has reminded parents it exists, rather than urging lawmakers to close it — as Pan closed it for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, hepatitis B, influenza type B, polio, whooping cough, tetanus and chickenpox. Why treat COVID-19 any differently, especially during a pandemic, when lives will be saved? Newsom should support Pan's new bill unconditionally.
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