State public health officials said Wednesday that indoor mask requirements in schools are likely to remain in place into 2022, but could be modified as more students get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In a briefing on the state’s vaccination efforts, Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly and state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said they expect COVID cases and transmission rates to fluctuate throughout the fall and winter as they did one year ago, albeit to a lesser degree because 86.8 percent of the state’s eligible population has received at least one vaccine dose.
In addition, vaccinations for children ages 5-11 are unlikely to receive emergency authorization from federal and state regulators until late next week.
Ghaly said the state plans to “look at some of the same things that we’ve laid out in prior guidance in school messaging — everything from levels of community transmission, vaccine rates — and similarly looking to be able to move in a direction of loosening some of the restrictions and requirements as appropriate.”
How quickly the state’s schools achieve high vaccination rates among students is a matter of when, not if, as Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Oct. 1 that the state will add the COVID-19 vaccine to its list of vaccinations required to attend school in-person once the shots receive full federal approval for school-age children.
Currently, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has received full federal approval, and only among people age 16 and up, while children ages 12-15 remain eligible under emergency authorization.
In announcing the requirement earlier this month, Newsom said it will take effect at the beginning of the school term following the vaccine’s full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and estimated that could be either Jan. 1 or July 1, 2022.
On Wednesday, Ghaly said the latter appears more likely.
“We don’t have any more clarity on when the full FDA approval will be as we inch closer to the end of this year,” he said. “And given the period of time that’s required, it is looking like full approval may not happen in this calendar year.
“Then, just like we have with other pediatric vaccine requirements in schools, the COVID vaccine requirement would be treated the same way,” Ghaly continued. “This is not a requirement for enrollment, this is a requirement to be on campus, in person for educational activities.”
In keeping mask requirements in schools through at least the end of the year, Ghaly also pointed to the start of flu season as another reason to maintain protections.
He noted that, as was the case last year, people gathering indoors because of colder winter weather and the upcoming holidays could once again strain health care systems in some parts of the state, particularly if this year’s flu strain is more prevalent without a statewide stay-at-home order and mask mandate in place.
57 comments
Lunacy
Protect the children from idiot adults.
@DOH
If only we could …
Idiotic to mask a child when it is proven they are not a major source of outbreaks.
Idiotic to mask a child when it is proven that masking a young child is detrimental to the mental development.
If this was really needed, we would see this mask mandate for children in school rampant throughout the United States … but we don’t.
The reason we don’t see mask mandates for children in school rampant throughout the United States is because of the push back from idiot adults. Some of these adults are on Fox news but behind the cameras everyone is wearing a mask.
Well Doh
We can agree to disagree, cause I think the idiot adults are the ones pushing the masks on children. My position is based on the rest of the US that is NOT pushing masks and that our case rate is relatively the same …
Umm .. duh …
Wow … California really wants to lead in something .. Lunacy wins! Cause it aint education, caring about kids, case count, … so they rely on lunacy.
Wish we could vote Ghouly out … How did we ever survive without mask in previous flu seasons … I mean, we were living dangerously back then! So glad we have the Nazi Regime of Newscum and Ghouly to lead away from those dark dark days.
Let it go! Let it go!
Control, control, control.
Much like daylight savings time.
It’s all about control.
Much like the so called vaccine.
The drug being used in the mandate is a gene altering drug.
It is NOT A VACCINATION.
We can’t vote these corrupt and tyrannical people out of office.
We need to force them out by uncovering their gross misdeeds and illegal actions.
.
KTVU reporter Jesse Gary indicated 55 percent of those between ages 5-17 would need to vaccinated in order to attain “herd immunity”.
.
I’m sure the State and local health officials will once again move the goal posts or change the definition of “fully vaccinated” to include boosters for all those eligible.
.
However,
Joe Biden can give a talk, cough in his hand, leave the podium and shake hands with all the attendees all the while not wearing a mask?
BS!
Let’s Go Brandon
“We’re never gonna learn about how safe the vaccine is until we start giving it out” – FDA
You are making your children big farma test subjects. Straight from the horse’s mouth.
Cry more libs
@Sam – I’d love to see that link from the FDA and their “admission”.
(It’s okay, we both know you don’t have any such link.)
“Cry more libs”
lol, are libs crying about the subject of this article? Seems like you might be the one crying over it. You okay bud?
“We’re never gonna learn about how safe the vaccine is until we start giving it out” – FDA
https://mobile.twitter.com/Bri ttRooted/status/14531241990698 06594
https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnew s/health/2021/october/fda-p anelist-on-vaccinating-kids-w ere-never-gonna-learn-about-h ow-safe-the-vaccine-is-until-w e-start-giving-it
https://youtube.com/watch?v=2wMcjdbT_ng&feature=share
What’s the score now greg? I flushed you every time.
@greg Here it is reported on Twitter complete with a video of the FDA spokesperson making the statement:
https://mobile.twitter.com/Techno_Fog/status/1453095851824459776?s=20
Here it is on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/qghf57/fda_voting_member_were_never_gonna_learn_about/
If you want to see other reports on the statement, just highlight the following:
“We’re never gonna learn about how safe the vaccine is until we start giving it out” – FDA
and plug it into the search engine of your choice.
@ Sam ~ I found this link laying on the floor outside your post and figured you might have dropped it…. is it yours?
https://tinyurl.com/53bayjsb
No surprise here. Political Health Science at work on our dime while Gavin pushes vaccine exemptions for his marketing benefactors.
Newsom doesn’t even try to conceal his demagnetized ethical compass any longer. He thinks the Recall was a vote of confidence.
We are only going to have to wear masks for two-weeks, I mean two-years, I mean to-death
People gathered indoors last Winter because of cold Winter weather?
It was the warmest winter on record, it was a drought!
People gathered indoors because indoor and outdoor dining was closed!
BTW Florida now has lowest cases in US and almost any country in the world!
LOL, Yeah, thats what happens when 60% is vaxxed and another 30% just got Covid in the last 3-4 months. Was it worth the 12,000 people that died in Florida in the last 3-4 months?
Florida has extremely low cases!!
Yeah, after thousands of their citizens died needlessly in the delta wave.
DeSantis has blood on his hands but he achieved his goal: he will win the anti-masker/vaxxer vote in his next election.
Fat Cat,
If you look at Covid death rates stratified by age, Florida is very close to (or even better than) California for most ranges. There are more deaths per capita from Covid in FL compared to CA in the lower age ranges, likely because that’s where the biggest difference in vax rates is.
There’s so many assumptions out there that mask mandates and lockdowns are effective, when over the long term they really are not reliably effective. The vaccines make a big difference. Everything else is tinkering around the edges OR cannot be sustained over the long term.
Meanwhile congress, postal workers, teachers, corrections officers, illegals, and all others in bed with liberals are EXEMPT from vaccine mandates. I cant be the only one who smells a big, fat rat.
@annoyed were you vaccinated when you contracted C19?
The “emergency” is over. Why are we allowing one person to bypass the checks and balances?
We gave them time to get hospitals in order like they requested. What are you people cheering this on thinking?
This is only an issue in certain places like parts of California and parts of NY. Who actually thinks the governor should have unchecked power?
Who actually thinks gavin newsom is worthy of keeping emergency powers indefinitely? This is a very bad situation. There used to be a timeframe for emergency powers. Where is our legislative branch? Why are we putting up with this tyranny?
I don’t get it. Even Michigan took this excessive power away from just one person. Why are we so powerless in California? I want my government back. This is a dictatorship justified by “health and safety”
It’s beyond time we do something to change this. We need change.
COVID is not even a factor and never was an emergency. This is bad.
Exactly! How can no one see how tyrannical he is and is abusing his power???!! He is a puppet of the unions, all of whom are exempt from having to get the jab!!!!! Wake up!!!
@Sam you already lost that election. Better luck next time. 🙂
An election won’t protect gavin from the people.
Just so I’m clear…..
You are mad at Governor’s having unchecked powers or just Newsom?
Because other governors like Abbott and DeSantis have also passed executive orders. They just pass executive orders that some here agree with.
It is clear from this announcement that Democrats intend to make masks, covid-passports, selective business closures, forced-vaccinations, etc…a permanent fixture of life. You get what you vote for…and we voted with our feet.
This has crossed a new line of lunacy. We’ve gone from high risk-aversion, to bureaucratic inertia, to the stickiness of control, to scapegoating children, to intense nannyism and tunnel vision … and now this is just straight up abusive.
Countries with comparable vaccination levels as the Bay Area, that have not vaccinated children, have in most cases not masked kids under 12 at all, and definitely not masked 2-6 year olds – and have better Covid outcomes than we do. Not to mention something like 40% of kids have already have Covid and have some acquired immunity from that already. And that young children don’t transmit it as readily. There are so many reasons this is bonkers, and we are so far beyond the point at which Covid is a collective emergency, that there’s no other word for this. This is abusing children to assuage the irrational fears of many adults and the unrestrained desire for control on the part of many politicians and officials. Sick.
There are going to be hundreds of thousands of kids in CA with a mask on for almost all of their social interactions from age two to five. Does anybody know the consequences of that? Does anybody care?
The worst thing about the pandemic for kids has been the disruption of their lives and development by school closures and masking rules. And there’s just no recognition that they are bearing the burden so the most tunnel-visioned or power-hungry adults can feel more in control.
Since CA seems to want to make this permanent, how about DMV and schools pictures are all with masks on?
It is so sad what we are doing to our children…the government is inducing adverse childhood experiences (ACE’s) thus increasing their risk for chronic health conditions as adults!
A history of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) increases risk for chronic health conditions including heart disease, obesity, kidney disease, and diabetes and may increase the risk for severe COVID-19 illness.
* ACEs are experiences of abuse, neglect, and household challenges occurring by age 18 and are associated with long-term risk for poorer physical, mental, and behavioral health.
* Exposure to prolonged ACEs, when experienced without protective buffering factors, can lead to changes to the biological stress response which can affect immune functioning (the toxic stress response).
* Individuals with a history of ACEs may also be more sensitive to the effects of new stressors, such as those presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
@Sancho so you’re opposed to conducting shooter drills in schools, correct?
@greg~Is that the best argument you have for the data I found on the State website? Your logic is a glaring red herring…using distraction to shift attention away from the Covid-19 & mask topic by simply comparing shooter drills at school, which is easier or safer to address!
https://covid19.ca.gov/equity/
greg: I don’t know if these drills are good or not. My kid seems stressed by them and says that it teaches a potential student shooter where everyone will go and what to expect. I’m not looking for a debate just pointing out that one actual student’s opinion questions the school created stress from constant reminders you might at any moment be shot at without notice.
Greg, if shooter drills were everyday, people would have a problem with that. They might do more harm than good by increasing fear and anxiety, as it is. But it’s a silly comparison since the COVID stuff is every day, all the time.
Not a single comment supporting the public good and how to get over this pandemic.
@Fred there is a super effective and safe vaccine available that would get us out of this pandemic in a heartbeat if 1/3 of the country wasn’t Bonkers McLooneyTunes.
Because those complaining about “freedom” are the ones sitting home all day looking for people to commiserate with about how life is so unfair.
Most of us have been living our lives to the fullest since April of 2020 and dealt with minor inconveniences.
No one wants to have an open discussion, they want it to be their way and when you present facts, your facts are wrong or misconstrued.
It’s funny how one side of the aisle throws out the terms sheep and snowflakes when in reality both sides are sheep and snowflakes. We parrot stuff we hear from Rachel, Tucker or Q and then get offended rather than having a discussion.
In N Out, like many fast food places, has conservative values. Chik Fil A is conservative and they haven’t complained about the mandates. In N Out will see a few weeks of increased business because of their “PR” campaign but in the end they caved and shut down indoor dining.
Again, we’d be a much better place if people talked more rather than running to message boards. to vent.
You don’t want to get vaxxed or wear a mask that’s your right. get tested daily.
Concord Resident. My “freedom” is not up for discussion or debate. That’s what you well intentioned lefty’s don’t get. Per our founding document it was given to me by my creator. We the people established a government to protect these rights, not take them away when a flu bug hits town.
Fred. With out liberty there is no public good.
Why are you so afraid of freedom? Do you not trust your self, is that what it is? What is it with this constant need to control other people, does it provide you with a sense of purpose? Do you not feel secure? Why are you so quick to give up your freedom?
More government control is not going to cure your ills or stem your fear. It’s an inside job.
greg and Fred,
What’s your benchmark for success here? Almost everybody in CCC who is eligible has been vaccinated 88.4% have had one shot or more – if the vaccine would get us out of the pandemic in a heartbeat, why aren’t we out of it in the Bay Area, where vax rates are super high?
What’s your off-ramp? Our county health officers apparently don’t have any off-ramps. Kids will wear masks in school, down to two years old, indefinitely. That just defies all rational cost-benefit analysis. The risk to kids (and to the community when all the adults can get vaxxed and almost all have) is so miniscule. Continuing to burden kids with this is just grotesque. It’s like making someone walk around in a bubble suit their entire childhood just because they *might* fall and hit their head.
None of what I said involves denying the public good, or the reality of Covid as a threat, or the effectiveness of the vaccines. Quite the contrary. It just involves thinking about costs *and* benefits of Covid measures, and when they cease to make sense. If you haven’t thought about that, you should try it sometime. When has the risk been reduced sufficiently that pre-schoolers should get to take their masks off and see their teachers’ faces?
Masking children is child abuse. My stomach turns seeing kids in masks out in public 🙁
Yes, cloth touching your child’s face is the same as them being a victim of physical violence. Very nuanced and thoroughly thought out comparison
Fat Cat,
Making a two-year old wear a face covering for all their social interactions during 8 hours of every day is not “cloth touching your child’s face.” It’s quite appropriately described as abusive.
The childrens mask thing didn’t work out too well for Michael Jackson’s kids; they are all screwed up.
The really scary kids at Halloween will be the ones not wearing masks.
Cool. Schools have always been cesspools, anyway.
I wonder if “masks” have a role in this “scientific” study?Since we “trust the science” – might the reasons for this by worth “scientific” analysis?
“Study Out of Brown University Finds Children Born During The Pandemic Have 21% Lower IQs”
If I still had school aged children they’d be home schooled until graduation or schools begin again teaching rather than indoctrinating. Yeah, me neither,
. . . . make it until graduation.
Can you pass a 1912 test?
https://tinyurl.com/3en2xejj
Again, what’s your off-ramp? When is the risk small enough that kids can live their lives again?
As you think about your answer, consider the fact, yes fact, that most European countries have never made young children wear masks, at any point of this pandemic. Never. And yet they aren’t full of Republicans and their Covid impacts are generally better than the US’s… It’s almost like masking kids provides slight benefit if any! Which is exactly what we would expect – the best mask study found a pretty modest effect, and almost no effect with cloth masks. Park people in the same room for hours with masks that barely do anything … the effect is going to be modest. And unsurprisingly, you can’t find big differences in school transmission rates between places that make kids mask and those that don’t.
The longer this goes on, the less reasonable it is: Covid is less and less of a threat because of increased population immunity, and the downsides grow over time as more and more of a kid’s childhood is impacted by never seeing anyone’s face at school.
Perhaps we should study how all Two Million illegals entering the US this year achieved herd immunity prior to entry. Otherwise the Biden camp wouldn’t be implanting them all over the US without vaccines. There must be something to learn that will help us all. Remember, Joe cares about you.
Children have higher chance of being hit by lightning than dying from covid they should wear rubber boots all the time.
If you believe in the science of masks but not the science of life beginning at conception, then you don’t believe in science. You believe in a political ideology.
If you support vaccine mandates, you’re a fascist. (and an idiot)
At least be honest with yourselves.
So you are Pro-Life and believe science begins at conception?
Greg
Strip you of your legal franchise, what? We tried to remove an idiot in the governors office. We failed … But I do not expect him to be rehired in November of 22 when he is up for reelection … run his popularity now, it is much worse.
As for your little article, it is a paid subscription. Did you actually read it? I have one from Fortune https://fortune.com/2021/10/19/covid-19-cases-surge-in-uk-schools-vaccine-rollout-to-adolescents/.
Yep, infection rate is up, but they had not started innoculations of the kids till the end of Sept. Hmm … not an apple to apple comparison. Not even in the same ball park for a comparison. They also abandoned ALL prevenative measures for infected kids.
If you are going to post an article, the fundamentals of research suggest you; 1) please read it. 2) please understand it, 3) make sure it is relevant to the discussion at hand. 4) try to find some other sites to collaborate your information.
You and ‘Me’ .. the two of you are full of misinformation and attempts to deflect the conversation from the issue at hand.
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