Mandate to vaccinate New Orleans schoolchildren kicking in

By REBECCA SANTANA
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As school systems across the U.S. struggle to keep classrooms open amid the pandemic, New Orleans is set to become the nation’s first major district to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for children 5 and up, though state regulations will allow parents to opt out easily. New Orleans is a Democratic enclave in red state, and the city and the district are an outlier in the South, where many parents and elected officials have balked at measures to control the coronavirus. New Orleans Superintendent Henderson Lewis says the requirement in the nearly 46,000-student district won’t lead to youngsters being kicked out of school come Tuesday. But eventually everyone will have to be vaccinated or have a waiver.