Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards today notified the House Committee on Health and Welfare that the Louisiana Department of Health will move forward with adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the schedule of immunizations for students 16 and older.
The governor's office said there is no reason not to, as the vaccine is safe and effective.
"I understand that any issue around COVID-19, especially those that involve our children, can be divisive, I ask that you and your colleagues work with me to get more people in Louisiana vaccinated," Edwards wrote in his letter to the committee. "One can only imagine where we would be as a state if the same overheated rhetoric from last week’s meeting was applied to Polio or Measles."
Click here to read the governor's complete letter.
The committee voted 13-2 against adding the vaccine to the required schedule after a contentious hearing where noted anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr. appeared with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to speak against it.
"Despite the misleading and conspiratorial rhetoric provided at the House Health and Welfare meeting last week, this rule does not force 'experimental shots' on children," the governor said. "The rule explicitly only applies to 'vaccines that have been fully approved by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the individual’s age.' At this point, the FDA has only fully approved a vaccine (Pfizer) for those 16 years old and above."
