President Donald Trump signed an government order withholding funding from faculties and universities that require college students to be vaccinated in opposition to COVID.
The transfer is a part of Trump’s bigger efforts to roll again vaccine mandates, regardless of research displaying that they assist improve vaccination charges and cut back COVID deaths, in response to a report from The New York Occasions.
The impression of the Feb. 14 order is unclear, as no states require Ok-12 college students to get the COVID vaccine.
The advocacy group No School Mandates famous that solely 15 faculties nonetheless required college students to be vaccinated as of late final 12 months.
However Trump’s order aligns with a bigger anti-vaccine sentiment:
21 states have already banned COVID vaccine mandates for college students.
Some Republican lawmakers are pushing for broader bans, together with a Montana proposal to dam mRNA vaccines and an Idaho ban on native well being departments providing any COVID vaccines.
The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) maintains that COVID vaccines are secure for youngsters—and whereas younger individuals are much less more likely to undergo extreme sickness, the virus has nonetheless harmed many youngsters.
Analysis exhibits that vaccine guidelines in faculties helped extra college students get vaccinated and should have slowed the unfold of COVID.
However some research have additionally discovered that these guidelines made some folks much less trusting of public well being tips, turning the difficulty right into a political debate as an alternative.
Trump’s newest government order represents a shift from his first time period, when his administration led the fast growth of COVID vaccines.
These early vaccine rollouts saved an estimated 140,000 lives, The Occasions reported.
The brand new coverage follows Trump’s latest transfer to reinstate extra 8,000 troops who have been discharged from the navy for refusing the COVID vaccine.
The order solely applies to COVID vaccines, leaving state-level necessities for measles, mumps, polio, and different childhood vaccines in place.
States nonetheless permit vaccine exemptions for medical, spiritual or private causes.
It is unclear whether or not the order will have an effect on medical faculties, a few of which require COVID vaccinations for college students.
Extra info:
The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention has extra on staying updated with COVID vaccines.
Quotation:
Govt order blocks federal funds for faculties that require COVID vaccines (2025, February 18)
retrieved 19 February 2025
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