President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that would deny federal funding to education institutions that require students to receive Covid-19 vaccinations.
The Associated Press reports that the order is predicted to have little effect because Covid-19 vaccine mandates have mostly been dropped at schools and universities across the United States.
The order applies only to Covid-19 vaccines. All states have laws requiring that children attending schools be vaccinated against certain diseases including measles, mumps, polio, tetanus, whooping cough and chickenpox.
The White House says the Covid-19 executive order "bars federal funds from being used to support or subsidize an educational service agency, state education agency, local education agency, elementary school, secondary school, or institution of higher education that requires students to have received a Covid-19 vaccination to attend in-person education programs."
Trump’s order was denounced by Democrats including Sen. Patty Murray, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, who called the action unconscionable and unethical.
“Vaccine requirements are not new, nor are the exceptions that have long existed,” Murray said in a statement. “Schools and states decide their vaccine policies, often after consulting public health officials, and should never be asked to sacrifice student safety for federal funding.”
NBC News reports that Covid vaccines are no longer required in K-12 schools across the country, according to two nonprofit health policy research organizations, Immunize.org and the National Academy for State Health Policy.
Only 15 colleges in the U.S. still require Covid shots, according to No College Mandates, a group advocating for an end to coronavirus vaccine mandates.
