Michigan Senate: No COVID-19 vaccine mandate for minors

May 27, 20210

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Indira Cisneron holds her son German Vazquez, right, while waiting to get her first vaccination shot with her other son Gabriel Vasquez, center, 13, in southwest Detroit on Thursday, May 13, 2021. School districts from California to Michigan are offering free prom tickets and deploying mobile vaccination teams to schools to inoculate students 12 and up so everyone can return to classrooms in the fall. They are also enlisting students who have gotten shots to press their friends to do the same. (Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press via AP)

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan Republicans on Tuesday advanced a bill that would prohibit state and local health officials from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for children under age 18.

The concept is not under consideration in the state. But GOP senators said they want to be proactive.

"While they might not be mandating something, they're certainly creating a scenario where mandates are being pushed. I just wanted to ensure that that wasn't going to happen in this space. Parents should be allowed to make the decision on this," Sen. Lana Theis, of Brighton, said of her legislation that would prevent the use of a state or local emergency order to require coronavirus vaccines for minors. It won Senate approval on a 20-16 party-line vote and was sent to the Republican-controlled House.

https://apnews.com/article/michigan-coronavirus-pandemic-education-health-government-and-politics-9b4fb3d0793cf7333fdcaa3e696da531