Gov. Kathy Hochul told MSNBC Friday that she wants to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for school kids by the next school year.
“I believe this is important,” she told host Katy Tur of a potential jab requirement. “And we’ll get it done.”
Hochul said that any such measure would have to pass through the state legislature prior to implementation.
“They do meet in January so our requirement for a vaccine would be in place for next school year,” she said. “It’s absolutely something we’re looking at very seriously.”
California is the only state to have already mandated vaccines for kids to attend school next year.
Los Angeles school officials this week delayed their vaccine deadline until the fall of 2022 after 30,000 kids failed to get the shot. It was originally set for Jan. 10.
Mayor-elect Eric Adams has previously signaled his support for a school jab mandate for the nation’s largest school system of roughly 900,000 kids.
All city school employees — including teachers — are currently required to be vaccinated.
City kids who participate in public school sports and some other extracurricular activities must also get the jab.
Many top city private schools have already established student vaccine mandate for next year.