MODESTO, Calif. — Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools chief Scott Kuykendall wants the vaccine decision for children left up to parents.
Just last week, Kuykendall submitted a resolution before the Stanislaus Board of Education to petition the state asking the vaccine be a recommendation and not a requirement for school students and staff.
In part it reads, "The Stanislaus County Office of Education parents, as well as district parents within Stanislaus County, have expressed concern regarding the lack of research on long-term impacts of the COVID-19 vaccine on children."
Most doctors and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the vaccine is a safe way to keep children and their family members from catching the coronavirus.
Heading home outside Enslen Elementary School in Modesto, 10-year-old Jeffery and 8-year-old Juliana are yet to be vaccinated. And, their mother, Seraina Conway, wants to keep it that way.
"I don't want to be forced, and, I don't know what the vaccine really has in it. I don't think anyone really knows. I don't feel like my kids are guinea pigs," She said.
Still, just last month, hundreds of parents backed up the language of the resolution with a rally in Downtown Modesto right outside the front of the Superintendent of School's office.
"I am pro-vaccine. I have been vaccinated myself, but I don't think it should be forced on us," said Fabian Zacharia, who was waiting in his car to pick up his six-year-old granddaughter.
He also believes the vaccine decision should be up to the parent.
"Her mom is a nurse, so she should have the choice of what decision to make and not the government imposing it on us and forcing it down our throats. I mean, again, I am vaccinated, so we probably would vaccinate her. But let us make the choice and not somebody else make the choice for us," Zacharia said.
ABC10 reached out to the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency for comment regarding the Superintendent's petition, but the inquiry was not immediately returned.
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