As a Christian organization, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms supports public policies that promote strong families. For the 2022 Digital Day of Action, we are highlighting our opposition to an anti-family proposal that would require students in New York schools to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.
Last December, Gov. Kathy Hochul stated that she wanted a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for students to go into effect for the 2022-2023 school year. A bill introduced by Asm. Jeffrey Dinowitz, A.8378, would create such a mandate, and would cause that mandate to go into effect 30 days after a COVID-19 vaccine has received full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Currently, the FDA has only issued an emergency authorization for COVID-19 vaccination in children ages five through 11.)
Mandating COVID-19 vaccination for students would take a sensitive and controversial decision out of parents’ hands and place that decision in the hands of the state. Some New Yorkers have religious objections to COVID-19 vaccination. Others are concerned that the long-term effects of the vaccine are not yet known. The state should respect parents’ authority in their children’s lives. Also, the progress being made to combat the COVID-19 pandemic may make a vaccination mandate obsolete by September 2022. Rather than taking a drastic, premature step that encroaches upon the authority of parents, the state should take a wait-and-see approach that emphasizes education and guidance instead of top-down requirements.
Please contact your elected officials today and urge them to oppose a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for New York’s students.