Committee rejects school COVID vaccine mandate

A bipartisan group of Louisiana lawmakers Monday voted against Gov. John Bel Edwards’ coronavirus vaccine requirement for some students, but the Democratic governor intends to overrule the rejection and add the shot to the immunization schedule starting next school year.
The fate of the plan seems likely to be decided by the courts, with Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry and the Edwards administration at odds over whether the vaccine requirement can be legally enacted by the governor without support from the full Legislature.
The House Health and Welfare Committee objected to the requirement in a 13-2 decision. All GOP lawmakers voted in opposition along with an independent and three Democrats. Only Democratic Reps. Dustin Miller of Opelousas and Robby Carter of St. Helena Parish supported adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the state’s immunization schedule for schools.
Landry – who has a history of opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates – is likely to sue over the matter. He spoke against the school vaccine requirement at the beginning of the hearing, saying it was an overreach by the governor.
“This proposed rule has no merit. It is ill advised. It makes policy and mandates vaccines, powers that are reserved to each and every one of you in this body,” Landry said.
Once added to the list of required vaccines, the COVID-19 vaccine requirement will be implemented in the fall 2022 school semester, according to State Health Official Dr. Joseph Kanter.
This requirement would apply to those ages 16 and up, since the Pfizer vaccine is only fully approved for this age group. When younger age groups get full approval to take the shot from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the requirement will expand to include those groups as well.
A total of 18 children in Louisiana have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March of 2020, according to the health department. The delta variant, which peaked a few months ago, increasingly affected a younger demographic, causing nine of these pediatric COVID-19 deaths.
Louisiana law also gives parents a straight-forward way to circumvent school vaccine requirements. Parents can exempt a child from taking a vaccine by submitting written dissent to the requirement or a note from a physician saying the vaccine is not medically advisable.
Most lawmakers who registered their disapproval of the vaccine requirement said they had been flooded with requests from their constituents, asking them to speak against the requirement.
Packed with anti-vaccine spectators, the meeting included frequent audience outbursts. More than 200 commentary cards were turned in from members of the public who wanted to register their disapproval of the requirement.
The hearing comes in the wake of the discovery of a new COVID-19 variant. The first Louisiana case of the omicron variant of COVID-19 was announced Sunday, and with the severity of omicron unknown, Louisiana officials are advocating for vaccines to dampen the potential spread of this strain in the state.
While Louisiana COVID-19 cases remain low, only around 49% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated — including 22% of residents that have also received the booster shot as last Friday.
Representatives who voted against the COVID-19 vaccine requirement:
Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall
Roy Adams, No Party -Jackson
Kenny Cox, D-Natchitoches
Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City
Michael Echols, R-Monroe
Julie Emerson, R-Carencro
Travis Johnson, D-Vidalia
Ed Larvadain, D-Alexandria
Wayne McMahen, R-Minden
Robert Owen, R-Slidell
Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport
Joseph Stagni, R-Kenner
Christopher Turner, R-Ruston
Representatives who voted for the COVID-19 vaccine requirement:
Robby Carter, D-Amite
Dustin Miller, D-Opelousas