Children in California will no longer be required to get vaccinated against COVID to attend school, state public-health officials confirmed Friday, ending one of the last major pandemic restrictions in the nation’s most populous state, the Associated Press reported. Gov. Gavin Newsom first announced the vaccination policy in 2021, saying it would eventually apply to all of the 6.7 million children attending public and private schools in California.
But since then, although COVID is still widespread, vaccines have eased the impact of the virus and reduced the burden on healthcare systems. Almost all of Newsom’s COVID restrictions have now been lifted. The governor will not be able to issue any new ones after Feb. 28, when the state’s pandemic emergency declaration will officially end. President Joe Biden said last week that he plans to end the twin national emergencies, which were introduced at the federal level early in the pandemic, on May 11. That move has dismayed healthcare experts, as it comes at a time when an average of almost 500 people in the U.S. are still dying every day.
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