President Trump signs more executive orders
President Trump signed a new series of executive orders that revolve around education and energy in the Oval Office on Friday. One of the orders bars schools who still have coronavirus vaccine mandates from receiving federal funds. Another order established an “energy council” led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday which directs the Education Department and Health and Human Services to create a plan to end vaccine mandates for COVID-19.
The order aims to fulfill a campaign promise from Trump, who often said he would “not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate.”
Trump says COVID-19 mandates in school infrige on ‘personal freedom’
What they’re saying:
“Given the incredibly low risk of serious COVID-19 illness for children and young adults, threatening to shut them out of an education is an intolerable infringement on personal freedom,” the order said.
Dig deeper:
The order is expected to have little national impact because COVID-19 vaccine mandates have mostly been dropped at schools and colleges across the United States, and many states have passed legislation forbidding such mandates.
FILE: Doctor with COVID-19 vaccine. (Credit: Jeff J Mitchell – Pool /Getty Images)
The order applies only to COVID-19 vaccines. All states have laws requiring that children attending schools be vaccinated against certain diseases including measles, mumps, polio, tetanus, whooping cough and chickenpox.
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All U.S. states allow exemptions for children with medical conditions that prevent them from getting certain vaccines. Most also allow exemptions for religious or other nonmedical reasons.
Some colleges started requiring students to be immunized against COVID-19 during the pandemic, but most have dropped the requirements. A few continue to require vaccines at least for students living on campus, including Swarthmore and Oberlin colleges. Most of those colleges allow medical or religious exemptions.
Schools requiring vaccine at risk of losing federal funding
The order also said schools, colleges and states that require students to be immunized against COVID-19 may be at risk of losing federal funding.
The order didn’t identify specific sources of money that could be at risk. Most federal education money is ordered by Congress.