What's going on with covid-19 shot mandates for kids in Washington state?
brief news and three simple action steps
First, a warm welcome
to over one hundred new subscribers since my last post, “The Turning Point.” The purpose of this Substack is to bring you concise information to stay on top of health policies that affect you, your kids, and your families. I’m committed to providing you with trustworthy information (and funny memes) at the intersection of health, freedom and politics. I get it, our modern lives are too busy and there is too much to keep up with. I track and watchdog what’s going on in Washington state and the nation, so that you don’t have to. This is a pivotal year for health freedom issues.
As the kids say, “I gotchu, fam.”
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As I was writing to update you on how the October 20, 2022 CDC decision
(recommending covid shots for the children’s immunization schedule)
is shaking out in Washington state, my colleagues at Informed Choice Washington hopped onto Substack and published two excellent posts on the issue.
If you feel confused, you are not alone. Here’s clarity:
The October CDC vote to add covid shots to the CDC childhood schedule is not a law or a mandate. It is a guideline only. It is up to the States to decide whether they adopt any or all of the CDC schedule. Each state makes their own list of required vaccinations for school attendance, and their own vaccine exemption paperwork.
As of today, covid shots for kids are not on the current meeting agendas of the Washington State Vaccine Advisory Committee or the Board of Health. But, this issue could be added to future agendas. A last-minute agenda change is also possible. We are staying alert. While the issue is not on any Washington state meeting agendas yet, we know that many Board of Health committee members would vote “yes” to require daycare and school-entry covid shots for babies, toddlers, kids and teens The Board voted “no” on this issue in April 2022 by a very narrow margin. It is important to write to these committees now if you support parent choice and preventing covid shot mandates for kids in Washington state.
Notice who is making these decisions at the CDC and the BOH about our kids: a dozen appointed industry-insider committee members who you did not elect. Is this democracy, or is it tyranny by committee? The CDC accurately says that they are not making mandates, only guidelines, and points at the states. Many states (and the state public health decision-makers) say they have no choice, they have to follow the guidelines, and point at the CDC. This way, both can point at each other and avoid blame for unpopular covid shot mandates.
Status of States
States and local public health decision-makers have the freedom to either adopt or reject any or all CDC guidelines for their school vaccinations list.
As of 11/7 (updated), these state governors have declared independence from the CDC recommendation and will reject covid shot mandates for school kids: Republican governors in Florida, Iowa, Tennessee, Alabama, Utah, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Virginia, Missouri and Indiana, plus two Democratic governors in Colorado and Connecticut.
Ten Republican candidates for governor (in New York, Illinois, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kansas) have announced that they will not mandate covid shots for K-12 school attendance, if elected.
Republican governors from Texas, Ohio, and New York have not yet announced their position on school mandates for covid shots.
The only governor to announce plans to add covid shots to the required school vaccinations is California Democratic governor Gavin Newsom. Depending on whether the mandate is issued under Public Health or the Legislature, a personal exemption, in addition to medical, may or may not apply, in California’s complex and highly regulated exemptions rules. Pro-vaccine-choice organizers were successful in preventing covid shots mandate laws in the last legislative session.
In Washington State, the decision for parent choice versus mandates for required school vaccinations is voted on by the Washington State Board of Health, a committee hand-selected by pro-mandate, anti-choice Governor Inslee.
Here are two must-read posts from ICWA and three simple action steps:
What’s ICWA? Informed Choice Washington is
ICWA has seven years of experience in medical freedom advocacy. I endorse ICWA for accurate and thorough information. Since collaborating with ICWA to successfully stop the Board of Health from mandating covid shots for schoolchildren last year, I have come to highly respect ICWA leadership’s integrity and political know-how.
ICWA post #1:
Update: due to a widespread Zoom outage, the Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting on 11/3 was cancelled and will be rescheduled on a future Thursday. I will post the new date here. The Board of Health monthly meeting is Wednesday, November 9 and open for public comment.
After November 9th, the next Board of Health meeting will be in January 2023.
“We need to roar even louder than last time. Be passionate and respectful, but be heard. The children of WA need us to Be Brave!”
The ICWA post above contains email addresses to submit your public comment. We must be proactive with public comments now to preserve parent choice in our kid’s medical decisions. Our kids. We do not co-parent with the government. Parents have tremendous power. Don’t let any agency tell you otherwise. Remember, in public comment, respect is effective; rudeness is counterproductive.
Action step one: read and subscribe to ICWA’s new Substack
Action step two: submit your public comment to the decision-makers via email.
An effective comment can be as brief as this, as in your own words:
"I oppose liability-free COVID-19 products to be mandated for our kids. I support parent choice in medical decisions, not mandates."
If covid shots are mandated for schoolchildren, then we are headed down the slippery slope of losing parental authority and constitutional rights, with more vaccine mandates for schools, colleges and workplaces. That’s not the future we want for our kids. Parents, hold the line.
Strategy tip: Be alert to two possible ways this could play out. One, attempted covid shot mandates could be approved by the governor-appointed Board of Health (BOH) committee, despite public opposition. The BOH has this authority, per WAC 246-105-030. Alternatively, the BOH will not add it to the school schedule now, instead waiting for pro-mandate legislators to remove the current vaccine exemptions first. This was done with last-minute legislation for the philosophical exemption to MMR vaccine in 2019.
This is a non-partisan blog.
When voting, ask yourself: Who stands for parent rights?
Who is more in alignment with what I value in education?
Who values parents as advocates for their children’s medical care?
Who demonstrates they are more likely to listen to and act on my concerns?
A special shout-out to State Rep. Jim Walsh for being a super supporter of parent’s rights!
ICWA post #2:
including a must-read, powerful, well-referenced letter to Public Health:
Over a hundred new subscribers. Can you tell me what I’m doing wrong? I was just voted #1. I think Gov is blocking my truthful posts. They’ve done it before. Great post.
Excellent article!