Photo: Getty Images North America
A group known as Let Them Choose, which has the support of over 20,000 San Diego families, is suing the San Diego Unified School District, stating that the district's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students is "unlawful" and in violation of a "student's right to in-person education."
San Diego Unified school board voted unanimously in favor of requiring all district staff and eligible students (age 16 and older) to be vaccinated. Staff must be fully vaccinated by December 20 and students must receive their first dose by November 29 and second dose by December 20.
Let Them Choose is hoping a restraining order will be issued "to keep SDUSD from enforcing their timeline of requiring all students 16 and older to be fully vaccinated by December 20, 2021." Their complaint states that the district’s vaccine mandate “conflicts with state law, which does not permit local school boards to promulgate new vaccination requirements in addition to those already required by state law.”
The group's founder, Sharon McKeeman said in a statement: “The thousands of families in our Let Them Choose community hold a strong conviction that the decision on whether or not to vaccinate youth with this novel COVID-19 vaccine should be decided by individual families in consultation with their trusted medical providers. An overwhelming number of families will not consider getting their child vaccinated without seeing long-term studies on this vaccine’s efficacy and safety, especially since healthy young people are incredibly resilient to this virus.”