LI Lawmaker 'Strongly' Opposes Potential Schools' Vaccine Mandate

SEAFORD, NY — Events are being canceled as breakthrough COVID-19 cases keep popping up. Gov. Kathy Hochul has addressed the need for a vaccine mandate in schools before the fall, the New York Post reported.

However, one local lawmaker is in opposition to the governor's decree.

Town of Hempstead Councilman Chris Carini (R-Seaford) said in a letter to Hochul on Monday that he is "fully vaccinated" and worked with the town to distribute 10,000 vaccine doses last spring in the community.

But Carini doesn't want the governor making these delicate decisions.

"I believe strongly that medical decisions should be made between parents and their children's doctors," Carini said in the letter. "A school COVID-19 vaccine mandate imposed by the government is an overreach of power and takes away the right of parents to make medical decisions for their children."

Requiring a vaccine for students would need the approval of the state legislature.

"Other steps have to be taken," Hochul said at a news conference on Monday. "My number one priority with respect to children is to allow them to stay in school."

Ultimately, though, Carini, a former police officer, does not support vaccine mandates, "especially for our children."