{"id":8774,"date":"2021-10-08T12:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T17:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/states-have-mandated-vaccinations-since-long-before-covid-19\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:56:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:56:32","slug":"states-have-mandated-vaccinations-since-long-before-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/10\/08\/states-have-mandated-vaccinations-since-long-before-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"States have mandated vaccinations since long before COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Students
Students at Huntington Park High School in California wait in line to submit proof of immunization. (Irfan Khan\/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Many Republican governors reacted furiously<\/a> after President Joe Biden said he would require employees<\/a> at large businesses to either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing. But Republican- and Democratic-led states alike already require hundreds of thousands of their citizens \u2013 infants, toddlers and schoolchildren, mostly \u2013 to be vaccinated against a panoply of diseases. In fact, mandatory childhood immunizations have been a feature of American society since the 19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends routine vaccination against 16 diseases from birth through age 18. The CDC recommendations, in turn, inform individual states\u2019 vaccine mandates: Typically, children who haven\u2019t received the required shots for their age can\u2019t attend school (public, private or parochial) or enroll in child care programs, though there are exemptions\u00a0for religious, medical or other reasons<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

How we did this<\/div>