It's Tuesday. California accounts for 12 percent of the nation's public school students but 1 percent of Covid-19 school closures. Plus, parents protest the state's upcoming student vaccination mandate. |
 | | A mother and daughter attended a parent meeting at Arleta Senior High School in Los Angeles.Allison Zaucha for The New York Times |
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"Our kids are not lab rats." "My body, my choice." "Coercion is not consent." |
At the heart of this fight is a complicated truth: California's new student vaccination requirements haven't yet begun, but the state already has a remarkably low number of outbreaks at schools. |
Of the 2,321 nationwide school closures since August because of Covid-19, about 1 percent have been in California — even though the state accounts for 12 percent of the nation's K-12 students, according to data from Burbio, a technology company that monitors outbreaks. |
So some parents may be wondering: If masking, testing and other prevention strategies are working so well, why is the state adding an immunization requirement? |
Simply stated, vaccines are the best tool for sparing people from coronavirus infections. You're probably familiar with these numbers by now, but the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines prevented roughly 95 percent of symptomatic illnesses in clinical trials. |
Linda Darling-Hammond, the president of California's Board of Education, told me she saw vaccines as the next stage of the state's pandemic response. Gov. Gavin Newsom has often been criticized for introducing restrictions, such as in July when he mandated universal masking in schools — only for the move to be later endorsed by federal officials. |
"The science works, if you are very, very persistent and purposeful about implementing it," Darling-Hammond told me. "I think there's a human tendency to say — as soon as things look good — 'OK, we can take our foot off the gas.' We can't." |
Darling-Hammond said the state needed to be prepared for the emergence of more variants. Vaccinating children will not only confer them protection from infection, but also limit virus spread that can lead to new mutations. |
Statewide, 71 percent of Californians 12 and over are fully immunized, one of the highest rates in the nation, according to a tracker by The New York Times. The percentage is lower for the youngest age group eligible for vaccines, those between 12 and 17, at around 57 percent. |
But there's a lot of variation across the state, and school outbreaks have typically hit places where coverage is low, Darling-Hammond told me. |
Counties where multiple schools have closed this fall include Kern (where 43 percent of people 12 and over are fully vaccinated), Tehama (41 percent) and Lassen (32 percent). |
There aren't uniform guidelines across the state for when a school must shut down in response to an outbreak, so the closure numbers aren't a perfect measure of how many students and teachers are falling sick. Still, they provide a snapshot of where and how often big outbreaks are overwhelming districts. |
Statewide, the student vaccine requirement isn't expected to take effect until July — first for seventh grade and up, followed by kindergarten through sixth grade — and only after the vaccines get full approval from the Food and Drug Administration for those age groups. (Currently, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has received full F.D.A. approval — and that's only for people 16 and older.) |
But for the Covid-19 vaccine, officials say, parents will be allowed to opt out if they feel it conflicts with their personal beliefs. |
 | | The bill that created the state's reparations task force was written by Shirley Weber, now California's secretary of state.Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press |
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- Reparations task force: Members of a statewide task force studying reparations for Black residents are undecided on who should qualify, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.
- A surfing icon: Tom Morey, the inventor of the Boogie Board, died at age 86, NPR reports.
- #MeToo: Activists say that an independent panel set up to investigate workplace misconduct in the State Capitol isn't independent enough, The Sacramento Bee reports.
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- A curious collection: The magician Ricky Jay left behind more than 10,000 rare books, posters and ephemera in his Beverly Hills home after his death. What was his wife to do with it all?
- Mark Ridley-Thomas: After being indicted on federal bribery charges, Mark Ridley-Thomas, a Los Angeles city councilman, said he would step back from participating on the Council but would not resign, The Los Angeles Times reports.
- Vice president's visit: Vice President Kamala Harris visited Lake Mead, which has reached some of the lowest water levels in its history, to pitch the Biden administration's plans to address climate change, The Los Angeles Times reports.
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- House race: Assemblyman Rudy Salas, a Democrat, announced he was running to represent the 21st Congressional District in the Central Valley, a race that could become one of the most competitive in the country, The Associated Press reports.
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- Weather warning: Gusty winds, rain and snow are expected to begin on Tuesday night in the Lake Tahoe area, as well as parts of Lassen, Plumas and Sierra Counties.
- Scandal-plagued school board: San Francisco will hold a special recall election for three members on the city's Board of Education, The Associated Press reports.
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 | | Craig Lee for The New York Times |
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 | | Stella Kalinina |
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I'm headed to San Diego soon to do some reporting. What should I write about? |
 | | Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times |
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And before you go, some good news |
For years, the contributions of Chinese immigrants to the creation of Yosemite National Park went unrecognized. |
This month, Yosemite officials formally honored these Chinese workers with the unveiling of a restored 1917 Chinese laundry building, where visitors can learn more about this lost history. |
Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Soumya |
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