A mandatory vaccine policy set to go into effect this week has been stayed in the Piedmont Unified School District for children as young as five as a result of a recent lawsuit.
The suit was brought against the district by two anti-vax parents and two non-profits by a firm that also sued the Los Angeles Unified School District.
"They [Piedmont Unified] had implemented the most egregious policy in our view, which was mandating the shots for 5 to 18-year-olds and saying they would be placed in independent study if they did not comply with the mandate," said Jessica Barsotti, an Oakland attorney who grew up in Piedmont and is with the Newport Beach-based Facts Law Truth Justice LLP that sued the district.
Los Angeles Unified pushed back its mandate in response to their suit, as it didn’t have the right structure in place to handle an influx of students opting for independent study, according to Barsotti.
"Piedmont has a similar difficulty because while they have said that these students would be put in independent study program they also don’t have really a good system in place to do that," said Barsotti.
The Piedmont suit was brought by anti-vaccination non-profit Children's Health Defense, founded by long-time anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., another nonprofit, Protection for the Educational Rights of Kids and two anonymous petitioners whose children attend school in the district.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman has stayed the Piedmont mandate for now. Piedmont Unified is the only school district in California currently mandating vaccines for kids as young as 5 years old. Already, 97% of school-aged children are vaccinated in the district.
While the temporary suspension of the mandate is a win for the anti-vaxxers, other parents are not happy.
“You know, we should be able to trust medicine. And the fact that there is a group of parents in Piedmont that really goes against this is highly disturbing,” said a Piedmont elementary school parent Elisa Lee.
And UCSF Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist, welcomes pediatric vaccines.
"They are completely safe. Of course, we continue to collect data," he said. "It's a lower dose vaccine for kids age 5-11 and already in the trials that were associated with fewer side effects."
The vaccine for kids ages 5-11 has emergency use authorization. Barsotti wants school districts to slow down and wait for the FDA to finish all their safety studies before mandating it.
"And if you are not going to wait for that, then what is the purpose of having an FDA approval process in the first place," she said.
In response to the recent decision, Piedmont Unified provided KCBS Radio with a statement:
"We are aware of the Alameda County Superior Court’s decision regarding Piedmont Unified School District’s student vaccine requirement. The District’s Board of Education will be discussing next steps at its January 26th meeting," the statement read.
"Whatever the outcome, we are proud of, and inspired by, the commitment of our families, resulting in a 97% student vaccination rate across the District. We will continue encouraging everyone in our community to get vaccinated and follow CDC, state and local guidelines in our ongoing fight against the COVID pandemic," the statement continued.
Piedmont Unified must file an opposition to the stay by February 10. The final hearing on the case is set for March 1.
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