California Today: A Fraught History With Childhood Vaccines

The state has become the first to mandate Covid-19 vaccines for schoolchildren.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story October 5, 2021 By Soumya Karlamangla California Today, Writer It's Tuesday. I'm diving into the newly announced Covid-19 vaccine mandate for schoolchildren. Plus, two California scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize. Gov. Gavin Newsom announcing the vaccine mandate.Jim Wilson/The New York Times In some ways, Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent decision to require Covid-19 vaccinations for all schoolchildren as early as next year is straight out of the California pandemic playbook. We were the first state to put into place a stay-at-home order in March 2020, the first to require vaccines for all state workers and the first to mandate masking in schools. But there's more to Newsom's latest announcement: California has long struggled with low childhood immunization rates — and resorted to laws to help raise them. In the early 2000s, as unfounded claims about vaccines proliferated and celebrities jumped onto the anti-vaccine bandwagon, vaccine resistance took root in many left-leaning communities, including large parts of California. Between 2001 and 2014, the percentage of California parents choosing not to vaccinate their kindergartners more than tripled, pushing the state's childhood vaccination rate to among the lowest in the nation. When a measles outbreak that started at Disneyland infected more than 150 people in 2014, scientists blamed it on rising numbers of unvaccinated children. The state's vaccination rates eventually began to rise a few years later, after new laws greatly limited the ability of parents to opt out of childhood immunizations. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Fast-forward to the pandemic: Covid-19 vaccines are available to people 12 and older, and California has one of the highest vaccination rates in the country. Some of that widespread coverage, however, is because of vaccine requirements here, such as for students in the University of California system, health care workers and teachers. Newsom extended those vaccine mandates on Friday, adding a coronavirus vaccine to the other inoculations that are required for nearly seven million students to attend K to 12 schools in person. Los Angeles Unified and a handful of other districts had already approved similar requirements for older children; a vaccine could be rolled out for 5- to 11-year-olds in November. The governor said he expected that the requirement — which is contingent for each age group on full approval from the Food and Drug Administration — would apply to grades seven and up starting in July, in time for the next fall semester. He added that parents could cite medical and personal beliefs to opt out of the requirement. "We want to end this pandemic," Newsom said on Friday. "We are all exhausted by it." California parents so far have largely been willing to vaccinate their children against Covid-19, perhaps because the threat feels imminent or because vaccine resistance has increasingly become more common among the far right. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Across the country, 57 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. In California, the rate of vaccination among that age group is 69 percent, one of the highest in the nation. For more: More parents appear to be willing to vaccinate their children. Johnson & Johnson will ask federal regulators to authorize a booster shot of its vaccine. Ninety-six percent of New York City teachers have received at least one dose. Subscribe Today We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times with this special offer. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT If you read one story, make it this The oil spill off the Orange County coast may have been caused by a ship's anchor. Purple sea urchins collected off the coast of Albion, Calif.Dexter Hake for The New York Times The rest of the news Zombie sea urchins: More than 95 percent of California's coastal kelp are gone, devoured by a population explosion of purple sea urchins. Stimulus checks: The third round of Golden State Stimulus payments are expected to be mailed out on Tuesday, SFGate reports. "Momnibus" bill: Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law on Monday aimed at reducing the maternal mortality disparity between Black mothers and those of other races, The Associated Press reports. Facebook inaccessible: The impacts of Monday's Facebook outage were far-reaching and severe. Climate summit: High stakes and uncertainty are factors as tens of thousands prepare for the United Nations climate meeting. New research: No treatment helped her depression — until this. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Crew strike: Hollywood moved closer to a production shutdown on Monday. Los Angeles couple: These two artists live among the furniture they create together. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA Wildfire evacuations: The KNP Complex fire burning in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks prompted new evacuations on Monday, The Los Angeles Times reports. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Weather warning: Unusually low temperatures are expected between Wednesday and Saturday in the Lake Tahoe area as well as the state's northeast corner. Oakland chef: Bryant Terry, a chef and cookbook author, is leading a new imprint to give chefs of color a leg up in the historically insular publishing industry. Tesla lawsuit: A San Francisco jury on Monday ordered Tesla to pay $137 million to a former employee over racist treatment. Todd Young What you get How far $2.2 million goes in Santa Monica, Piedmont and Dana Point. Romulo Yanes for The New York Times What we're eating One-pot turmeric coconut rice with greens. Where we're traveling Today's travel tip comes from Pelle P. Smits, who recommends East Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz: "At foggy five o'clock in the morning, the East Cliff gets busy with people running and cycling, and many surfers dive into the sea to catch the first waves. Grab a coffee and some Mexican pastries at one of the plenty small businesses along the road, and walk past the wonderful beach houses down to Pleasure Point, where the sun breaks through the clouds around noon, opening up to stunning ocean views. In the afternoon, Twin Lakes State Beach serves as an excellent place to relax in the sand and sit by the fire at dusk." Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We'll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter. David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian being announced as the joint winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images And before you go, some good news The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly on Monday to two California scientists. David Julius, a professor of physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, and Ardem Patapoutian, a molecular biologist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, were honored for their discoveries about how heat, cold and touch can initiate signals in the nervous system. Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Soumya P.S. Here's today's Mini Crossword, and a clue: It follows "North" or "South" to make a country name (5 letters). Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Continue reading the main story Need help? 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