The city of San Francisco announced that it will soon require children ages 5 to 11 to show proof they have received the COVID-19 vaccine in order to be indoors at businesses and restaurants.
A virtual town hall meeting took place Tuesday night, where Health Officer Dr. Susan Phillip stated “We definitely want to wait and make sure that children have an opportunity to get vaccinated”.
That will happen no sooner than about eight weeks after the vaccine is available to kids. So there will be a limited time in which there will not be those requirements, but then at some point, 5- to 11-year-olds will also have to show proof of vaccination to access some of those same settings.
On Tuesday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the approval of the vaccine for children ages 5-11. Doctor’s offices, pharmacies, and clinics will now be able to distribute the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Back in August, the city of San Francisco put a vaccine requirement in place for anyone entering indoor settings, including restaurants, bars, and clubs.
The mandate is being criticized because no one under the age of 20 has been killed by COVID in the city. Only 1,529 kids have been diagnosed with the virus since the start of the pandemic.
“Are parents going to have to carry birth certificates with them to restaurants and grocery stores to prove their 4 year olds are ineligible?” someone on Twitter asked.
Another user tweeted, “If you don’t feel safe sitting in a coffee shop unless the five-year-old across the room is vaccinated, you should stay home”.
The U.S. has become one of the first countries in the world to officially approve the vaccine for this age group, with some scientists still warning against it.
