FILE – Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks with reporters after touring a Loudoun County elections facility at the County Office of Elections in Leesburg, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. Youngkin called Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, for expanding nuclear power generation in Virginia, reevaluating a recent clean energy law celebrated by environmentalists, and restoring greater authority to state regulators who oversee the state’s powerful utilities. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Cliff Owen

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced on Thursday that he wants to eliminate COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

“COVID-19 mandates should be in our rear view mirror,” the Republican governor tweeted. “The decision to vaccinate a child against COVID-19 is for Virginia parents to make about what’s best for them and their family. We will not adhere to these @CDCgov mandates. In Virginia, parents matter.”

 

But the situation is more complicated than Youngkin describes, and some of what he tweeted is factually inaccurate.

The tweet was likely inspired by a segment that aired on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News earlier this week, during which host Tucker Carlson said “This week, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to add the COVID-19 vax to the list of required childhood vaccines. If this happens, your children will not be able to attend school without taking the COVID shot.”

But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have never mandated any COVID-19 vaccines for adults or children. While the CDC’s advisory committee on vaccines did approve adding COVID-19 vaccines to the recommended schedule of immunizations for both children and adults this week, that list is only a recommendation for states.. The CDC recommends vaccines; state health agencies choose whether to mandate them.

On Friday, following the advisory committee’s vote, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Todd Gilbert issued a statement clarifying the process for vaccine mandates in schools, and indicating he would not move to add the COVID shot to Virginia’s list of mandatory vaccines.

“Under state law, the only way to create a mandate would either be through rule-making by the Board of Health, which would not happen until 2024, or through an action of the General Assembly, which will not happen while I am Speaker,” he wrote.

The Virginia Department of Health did not provide answers to questions about which public schools require vaccines or the process by which an immunization is added to the list of those required for children attending public schools in the state by the time of publication.

Youngkin has previously said he supports COVID-19 vaccines and received one himself, but has been opposed to mandating them. During the final debate before the 2021 election between the governor and Democratic challenger Terry McAuliffe, Youngkin said he supports continuing to mandate all of the vaccines that are currently required for children who attend public schools in Virginia.

“Those vaccines can be mandatory,” Youngkin said, “I do believe the COVID vaccine is one everyone should get, but we shouldn’t mandate it.” Earlier this year, Youngkin also released a PSA about the COVID-19 vaccine, calling it “the best way to protect our lives and loved ones.”

Mandated vaccines include those for preventing Diphtheria, Tetanus, & Pertussis; Haemophilus Influenzae Type b; Hepatitis A and B; Human Papillomavirus; Measles, Mumps, & Rubella; Meningococcal Conjugate; Pneumococcal; Polio; Rotavirus; and chickenpox.

Margaret Barthel contributed reporting.

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