I oppose the petition for a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in general, and even if the vaccine was mandated, I would oppose allowing only medical exemptions without religious and philosophical exemptions, as well. Parents should have the right to decide whether or not their children get vaccinated, not the government.

I am offended by the final statement of the petitioner's request: "The irrational minority should not be dictating the public health policy for VA or the schools." There are perfectly rational reasons for why parents may be against mandatory vaccines for their children. Here are just a few examples:

1. As an initial point, the petitioner supporting this mandate seems to mistakenly believe that the COVID-19 vaccines are a panacea, and that the vaccines are a guarantee to preventing infection and disruption of school activities. There is simply no evidence to believe this is true, especially given the number of breakthrough infections for adults (for example, see Israel). Who knows what a breakthrough infection rate could look like for children? Now, this is not to say that children should not be vaccinated at all. The decision should be left to the parents, students, and their medical providers, with a grounded understanding of what vaccination could and could not lead to. The petitioner also states, "it sure would be great for [students] to be able to go to school without masks"- how would this work, given K-12 settings and others, including federal workplaces, require masks, regardless of vaccination status?

2.  The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has not been in wide circulation for even a year. Vaccines are usually tested for many years before widespread use. No vaccine developer, medical professional, or government official can definitively say what the vaccine's effect(s) will be on children in the future (i.e. 10, 15, or 20 years down the road). There is simply not enough science to follow on this point at this time.

3. Are children generally at risk for developing serious disease? If the teachers are already vaccinated and, presumably, protected against COVID-19 infection, why do children need to be vaccinated? Also, if children have already recovered from COVID-19 infection, why do they need to be vaccinated at this time?

4. The only COVID-19 vaccine available for children, Pfizer, utilized aborted fetal cells in vaccine testing. Many Americans want ethically-produced vaccines, for preventing COVID-19 and other conditions, with no connection to abortion. Government leaders and their constituents must call upon vaccine manufacturers to produce ethical vaccines. The government should not impose unethically-produced vaccines on its constituents, and constituents should be free to reject any medical care linked to abortion consistent with their religious beliefs and conscience.

Let Virginians make their own decisions. No vaccine mandate.