President Trump on Feb. 15 signed an executive order barring public schools from receiving federal funding if they require students to get a COVID-19 vaccine, providing relief to millions of Americans concerned about mandates forcing their children to receive a shot with potential risks.
The order states that some school districts and universities have continued to pressure students into receiving the COVID-19 vaccine by tying it to their education, while others may reinstate mandates in the future.
“Parents and young adults should be empowered with accurate data regarding the remote risks of serious illness associated with COVID-19 for children and young adults, as well as how those risks can be mitigated through various measures, and left free to make their own decisions accordingly,” the order states.
“Given the incredibly low risk of serious COVID-19 illness for children and young adults, threatening to shut them out of an education is an intolerable infringement on personal freedom. Such mandates usurp parental authority and burden students of many faiths.”
Trump’s directive also calls on the incoming Secretary of Education and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “provide a plan to end coercive COVID-19 vaccine mandates.”
This has sparked concerns among some that children will be able to receive a public education without being required to get vaccinated against benign childhood illnesses with vaccines that offer little to no effectiveness.
All states have laws requiring that children attending schools be vaccinated against an endless barrage of diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis A and B, meningitis, HPV, and chickenpox.
All U.S. states allow vaccination exemptions for children with certain medical conditions, although these exemptions are almost impossible to obtain because physicians fear facing retaliation. Some states also allow exemptions for religious or other nonmedical reasons.
“I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate,” Trump declared during his campaign for President last August.
