Hundreds of Fresno parents seek information on COVID vaccine exemptions after CDC news
Just hours after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine for children 5-11 years old on Tuesday, hundreds gathered at a church in downtown Fresno for a town hall on vaccine exemptions.
Approximately 400 people attended the town hall at the Cornerstone Church.
Cornerstone Pastor Jim Franklin and attorney Brad Dacus, founder of the Pacific Justice Institute, led the town hall. The nonprofit legal defense organization says it focuses on religious freedom and parental rights, among others.
The event comes as local school district leaders and health officials have been urging more families to get vaccinated while also addressing concerns that some parents, including many across Fresno, have raised about the vaccine mandate for school-age children.
Some in attendance said that they weren’t necessarily against the vaccine but were confused by all of the information and didn’t understand the state’s school mandate.
“I don’t believe in being forced to do something against our will,” said attendee Diane Williams, who was with her children and grandchildren at the town hall.
Fresno locals ask for guidance on medical, religious vaccine exemptions
The main focus of the town hall was for attendees to ask Pacific Justice Institute questions on how to file religious COVID-19 vaccine exemptions either in the workplace or in schools.
Dacus, the lawyer, told attendees to get ready for a “spiritual battle” over California’s proposed school-age mandate.
However, he also told attendees that anyone refusing the vaccine should comply with “reasonable accommodations” like masking and regular testing. Only about 20 people in the crowd Tuesday night were seen wearing masks.
At least one attendee, however, left the event with a new interest in vaccines.
William Carte —who said he attended the town hall for what he called uncensored information in an inclusive setting— said thanks to the town hall, he learned about the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, which is currently undergoing clinical trials.
“I find that to be very appealing to me,” said Carte, explaining that he liked the idea of a vaccine that doesn’t involve aborted fetuses in the process.
“It’s a growth of information, like reading through a textbook,” said Carte, of the constant coronavirus news and vaccine updates. “You get more information as you go through it and hopefully get more educated.”
Fresno parents have a lot of questions about student vaccine mandate
Parents across the country are split on their attitudes towards vaccinating their kids.
According to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation COVID-19 vaccination monitor, nearly three in 10 parents of 5-11 year-olds (27%) are eager to vaccinate their children, while a third say they prefer to wait a while to see how the vaccine is working. Three in 10 parents say they will definitely not get the vaccine for their 12-17 year-olds (31%) or their 5-11 year-olds (30%).
A Clovis Unified parent who attended Tuesday night’s event said that she wanted to have more time to deliberate, as well as the choice to vaccinate herself and her family.
“They were rushed through, and we just don’t feel safe having our children basically be like guinea pigs,” said the mother who asked not to be named.
Another Clovis Unified parent, Cathleen Haus, said she was worried the vaccine might “do more harm than (good). Haus said that she was worried about myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle that has been associated with the COVID-19 vaccine in some adolescent boys. The CDC says that most of the patients that experience these symptoms respond well to medicine and usually feel better quickly.
Haus said that she would file for a vaccine exemption for her kids, and if denied, she’ll home-school her kids.
The national survey showed that two-thirds of parents are worried about potential unknown long-term effects of the vaccine, such as whether the vaccine may affect their child’s future fertility. Over half (53%) of parents polled said that they are worried their child might be required to get vaccinated for COVID-19 even if they don’t want them to.
The report also found that vaccination rates among 12-17 year-olds have slowed down. As of Oct. 28, only 49.6% of Fresno County’s 92,815 children ages 12 to 17 were vaccinated.
Fresno’s health and school leaders urge residents to vaccinate themselves and their eligible children against COVID-19.
At the same time, they want Fresnans to know that a youth vaccine mandate is not yet in place.
In an email statement to The Bee on Thursday, Fresno County health officials said that the state’s vaccine mandate will not go into effect until the semester after a vaccine has received full approval from the FDA.
For students ages 12 to 17, full approval is expected by the summer of 2022, they said.
A vaccine mandate for children ages 5-11 would not go into effect until a COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11 year-olds receives full approval. Fresno County health officials said that would happen sometime after vaccines are mandated for older children, ages 12 to 17.
Likewise, during a virtual town hall last week, Fresno Unified superintendent, Bob Nelson, told families that no current mandate exists. Nelson added that there are various vaccine clinics on campuses. Once full FDA approval is in effect, the district will treat the COVID-19 vaccine like any other vaccination requirement.
Still, families that have religious, medical, or personal belief conflicts with the vaccine will be able to file exemptions.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Hundreds of Fresno parents seek information on COVID vaccine exemptions after CDC news."
