The D.C. Council unanimously voted Tuesday to repeal a mandate requiring students who are eligible for the COVID-19 shot to be fully vaccinated to attend public school.

Councilmembers say they still encourage young people to get vaccinated, as the COVID-19 vaccine remains the best way to slow the spread of the virus and save lives. But they fear too many students would miss school because they are not in compliance with the required immunizations. Lawmakers are already concerned about students who fell behind in learning during the pandemic.

Enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate the council passed in 2021 has been fraught, as the city delayed it more than once to ensure they vaccinated as many young people as they could. Compliance was still expected to be an issue whenever it was enforced; more than 40% of children over 12 in D.C. public and charter schools have not completed their two-dose primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine as of June, according to DC Health.

The new law, introduced by Chairman Phil Mendelson and At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson, would take effect following the approval of Mayor Muriel Bowser and the standard 30-day congressional review. Bowser is expected to sign the bill into law given that several D.C. agencies under her purview, including the Department of Health and the Deputy Mayor of Education, testified in favor of measure.

Students who attend DC Public Schools and DC Public Charter Schools are already required to be immunized against numerous illnesses including diphtheria, polio, tetanus, rubella, measles, and the mumps. But in 2021, the D.C. Council added the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required immunizations for D.C. public school students.

Councilmembers now think the harm of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate outweighs the benefit. They also no longer think it’s necessary, citing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which does not recommend a requirement. Councilmembers also raised concerns about racial and economic disparities that would come with enforcing a COVID-19 mandate.

According to a report from the council’s Office of Racial Equity, excluding students from school based on their vaccination status would disproportionately impact Black students. Black students, particularly teenagers, are less likely to be vaccinated compared to their white peers due to structural and institutional barriers that kept vaccination rates lower among all Black residents, per the report. Black residents were also more likely to get sick and die from COVID-19.

There are also other impediments to vaccination efforts at schools. Andrea Boudreaux, the executive director of the Children’s School Services at Children’s National Hospital, told the D.C. Council in June that a shortage in school nurses could hobble on-campus clinics. Thomas Farley of DC Health warned misinformation amongst families could also undermine vaccination efforts.

“We believe that parents’ resistance would make it very difficult to enforce a mandate for COVID-19 vaccine at this time, especially while COVID-19 infection rates are very low,” Farley testified to the council.

D.C. used to enforce routine childhood immunization requirements — measles, mumps, and the like — for students in all grades, but the mayor updated that policy this year to require compliance checks in just four grades: PreK-3, Kindergarten, 7th, and 11th. The administration believes this change helps simplify and streamline enforcement while also reducing the number of children at risk for exclusion from school.

Schools are required to immediately notify parents, guardians, or adult students in writing of missing immunizations, according to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. If a student in one of the four grades is still unvaccinated by Dec. 4, the student will be required to stay out of school until proof of vaccination is submitted.