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Brief
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 2: A model of COVID-19, known as coronavirus, is seen ahead of testimony from Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), during a US Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the plan to research, manufacture and distribute a coronavirus vaccine, known as Operation Warp Speed, July 2, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images)
A bill that would state only Kentucky parents or other guardians can make people under the age of 18 take?COVID-19 vaccines passed the House Tuesday 79-17.
House Bill 101, sponsored by Shawn McPherson, R-Scottsville, states: “no person, entity, corporation, company, organization, or government agency, public or private, shall require or coerce in any manner any child to receive a vaccination for COVID-19 or any mutated strain of the COVID-19 virus, other than the child’s parents, de facto or legal custodians, or guardians.”
An earlier version of the bill stated that “administrative regulations shall not require students to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend school.”
The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services reported on March 6 that 5% of the population ages 0-4 have received COVID-19 vaccines. That jumps to 25% in Kentuckians 5-11 and 54% in those 16-17.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone 6 months and older stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations.
Find vaccines nearest your ZIP code at: https://www.vaccines.gov/search/.
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Sarah Ladd
Sarah Ladd is a Louisville-based journalist from West Kentucky who's covered everything from crime to higher education. She spent nearly two years on the metro breaking news desk at The Courier Journal. In 2020, she started reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and has covered health ever since. As the Kentucky Lantern's health reporter, she focuses on mental health, LGBTQ+ issues, children's welfare, COVID-19 and more.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
