Last month, the CDC’s Advisory committee on immunization practices voted to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of immunization schedules for adults and school-age children. To be clear, this is not a vaccine mandate, but it is on the recommended protocols for physicians to follow when vaccinating people. 

Furthermore, there are schools that do outline several of their policies based on the CDC‘s vaccination guidance. 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in a letter sent to both the Director of the Texas Education Agency and school superintendents across the state of Texas, clarified that state-funded public schools cannot enforce vaccine mandates. “Regardless of what the CDC may suggest, in Texas, the COVID-19 vaccine remains voluntary. Texas schools shall not require students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for any reason,” said Governor Abbott. 

This statement is based on the Executive Order Abbott last year, which states that no government entities in the state of Texas, funded entirely or partly, can enforce vaccine mandates. Neither can they force vaccine documentation, or restrict access to public or private entities based on vaccination status. 

“This Executive Order allows parents to opt out of the COVID-19 vaccine for their children while further empowering Texas parents to be the primary decision-makers in their children’s health care,” wrote Abbott.

During the Summer, Abbott won a case in the 5th Circuit Appeals Court that upheld Texas state-funded schools cannot enforce mask mandates. Abbott has been a proponent of parental choice in education and is against the idea of certain Covid-19 restrictions in public schools and other state institutions.