The San Diego-based group that has been fighting the state’s school mask mandate sued San Diego Unified School District for the district’s new COVID vaccine mandate.
Let Them Choose, a project of the anti-mask group Let Them Breathe, filed its lawsuit against San Diego Unified Monday in San Diego Superior Court.
The lawsuit says the district’s vaccine mandate hurts students because it forces them to learn from home in independent study if they don’t get vaccinated.
“Keeping healthy children out of the classroom is contrary to California law, is not necessary to reduce cases of COVID-19 in schools, and is not in the best interest of students, parents, or school districts,” the lawsuit says.
On Sept. 28 the San Diego Unified School Board unanimously approved a mandate that all students age 16 and older, as well as staff, must be fully vaccinated against COVID by Dec. 20.
Younger students will be required to get vaccinated after the vaccine is fully approved by the Food and Drug istration for their age groups, according to the mandate.
Earlier this month the state of California also mandated that students receive COVID vaccines once they’re fully approved, but with a longer timeline.
Students age 12 and older will have to take the vaccine starting with the semester that begins after the vaccine is fully approved by the FDA for youth ages 12 to 15. The earliest that requirement could kick in is Jan. 1.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine currently is fully approved for people age 16 and older. That vaccine has emergency use authorization from the FDA for kids age 12 to 15.
San Diego Unified’s mandate has drawn from several medical and other scientific professionals. The district has said its vaccine mandate will help reduce the spread of COVID among students, their families and school staff.
It also will reduce disruptions to student learning, district officials said.
State guidance has said unvaccinated students should be sent home to quarantine for up to 10 days if they come in with someone who has COVID. Vaccinated students don’t have to quarantine.
California’s rules allow exemptions for students’ personal beliefs, however San Diego Unified is not allowing personal belief exemptions for students, even though state law provides for such exemptions for new school vaccine requirements like the COVID vaccine.
School Board President Richard Barrera has said the district is not offering personal belief exemptions because families may end up abusing that loophole, resulting in low vaccination rates.
Let Them Choose argues that San Diego Unified, as an individual school district, lacks the legal authority to mandate a vaccine, and that only the state’s public health department and state legislature can do that.
The lawsuit also notes that it’s rare for children to get seriously sick or die from COVID and that the COVID vaccine does not guarantee someone won’t contract COVID.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says that children contract COVID at a rate of 8,035 per 100,000 in the U.S., an amount that has been increasing over time, and about 0.8 percent of children who get COVID are hospitalized.
