RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Commission on Public Health met for hours Wednesday to consider a petition that would require COVID-19 vaccines for all 17-year-old high school students.
Before 11:30 a.m., the commission voted unanimously to not take on the proposed vaccine mandate, which argued all students 17 years old and older should be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The petition featured the signatures of about 250 UNC System faculty and staff members.
WRAL reported that it was submitted last fall by UNC staff, mostly from Appalachian State University, who are frustrated that UNC is not requiring vaccinations for students.
The commission falls within the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS).
Wednesday's meeting is being streamed online. The public may participate by clicking this link or dialing by phone +1-415-655-0003. The Event Access Code is 2437 043 2742. The Event Password is TqVVjSyc947.
While some school districts have vaccination or testing requirements for teachers and staff, there are no COVID-19 vaccine requirements for students.
North Carolina has been experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases because of the omicron variant. In recent days, the number of new daily cases has dropped from an all-time high above 35,000.
While it remains high, the positivity rate from COVID-19 testing in North Carolina is slowly easy. By Tuesday, the rate had dropped to just below 30%.
As the omicron variant of the coronavirus brought record case counts to North Carolina, the NCDHHS reported COVID-19 infections in 12,128 children ages as old as 4 years old. Those cases are nearly six times the number of cases that population saw last August as the delta variant dominated.
Even though the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 has been available since November, only 25% of children in that age group in North Carolina have received at least one dose, according to NCDHHS data. Across the country, just 20% of kids ages 5 to 11 and just over half of 12- to 17-year-olds were fully vaccinated, according to data published by the American Academy of Pediatrics last week. Nearly three-quarters of adults are fully vaccinated nationwide.
COVID-19 vaccines are available to anyone older than 5 years old. On Tuesday, Pfizer asked the FDA to consider an emergency authorization for its vaccine for children as young as six months old. If approved, those shots could be available as early as March.
The Commission for Public Health is the public health rulemaking body for North Carolina. The Commission is authorized and directed by the N.C. General Assembly to adopt rules to protect and promote the health of the public and to adopt rules necessary to implement public health programs administered by the Division of Public Health.
The Commission for Public Health was first established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1877 as the State Board of Health. It was renamed the Commission for Health Services in 1973 and became the Commission for Public Health in 2007. The Division of Public Health is staff to the Commission.
The Associated Press and WRAL contributed to this report.