California school offers boy pizza to get vaccinated, tells him not to 'say anything,' mom says
Los Angeles Unified School District requiring kids 12 and over to get vaccinated
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A California mother has claimed that her 13-year-old son was told not to say anything after being given the COVID-19 vaccine in exchange for pizza at his school without her consent, according to a local report.
Maribel Duarte told NBC Los Angeles on Monday that her son recently came home from Barack Obama Global Prep Academy in South Los Angeles with a vaccine card, telling her that he accepted the shot after he was offered pizza.
"It hurt to know he got a shot without my permission, without knowing and without signing any papers for him to get the shot," Duarte said, adding that she is vaccinated and isn’t anti-vaccine.
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CALIFORNIA'S PROPOSED WOKE MATH CURRICULUM ALARMS MATHEMATICIANS, SCIENTISTS
The Los Angeles Unified School District announced in Sept. that all students 12 years of age or older will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 10, 2022, unless they are granted a medical or other exemption. (AP, File)
The mother told the station that the woman who gave her son the shot and signed the paper told him, "Please don’t say anything. I don’t want to get in trouble."
The child’s school is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second-largest in the U.S., which saw enrollment drop by more than 27,000 – or 6% – at the start of the school year amid a vaccine mandate for kids over 12 years old.
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The district told the station that while it can’t comment on student matters, it does follow a "safe schools to safe steps incentive program" that is meant to ensure measures are set for vaccinated students to get prizes.
An LAUSD spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Monday morning that it was "currently unable to confirm that this incident occurred at Barack Obama Global Preparation Academy."
"With the Jan. 10, 2022, student vaccination deadline approaching, the District introduced the Safe Schools to Safe Steps Incentive Program throughout Los Angeles Unified Schools," the spokesperson said. "This program offers incentives to families who upload proof of their vaccine, have an approved medical exemption, or have conditional admissions."
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The spokesperson said that the school has an overall vaccination rate of over 80%, adding that vaccinations are "an essential part of the multi-layered protection against COVID-19" that will enable students to stay healthy for in-person learning.
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The LAUSD announced in Sept. that all students 12 years of age or older will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 10, 2022, unless they are granted a medical or other exemption.
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Students who remain unvaccinated without an exemption will be forced to shift back to virtual learning.
On Nov. 22, the LAUSD said that 79% of students in the district have a complete, pending, or partial vaccination record, or qualify for conditional admission or medical exemption.