CHARLESTON — In an effort to stem the flow of rumors and conspiracy theories, Gov. Jim Justice said Monday that West Virginia would not be adding COVID-19 vaccinations to the list of childhood vaccinations required for children to enter schools.

Speaking during a COVID-19 virtual briefing with reporters Monday morning from the State Capitol Building, Justice made it clear that a mandate for pediatric COVID-19 vaccinations would not being coming from the state.

“In all the power I have, West Virginia will not — will not — mandate COVID-19 vaccines for kids,” Justice said. “I can’t promise I won’t be overridden or whatever it might be, but within all my power I do not think that is the right thing to do. I think that choice needs to be to our parents and our families.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted Thursday to add COVID-19 vaccines to the immunization schedule for the 2023-2024 school year next year. The CDC recommended COVID-19 vaccinations for school children this year separately from the 2022 vaccination schedule, but Thursday’s vote was the first time that COVID-19 vaccines were added to their recommended list.

“It has been almost two years since COVID-19 vaccines were first rolled out in the U.S., and nearly 630 million doses have since been administered nationwide, providing people with critical protection against severe COVID-19,” the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said in a statement after its vote. “ACIP’s recommendation to add COVID-19 vaccines to the routinely recommended vaccine schedule represents another step in the nation’s recovery.”

CIP’s immunization schedule serves only as a recommendation and not a mandate, with states setting their own school entry vaccine requirements. West Virginia Code 16-3-4 sets out vaccine requirements for children wishing to enter public, private, and religious schools or state-regulated child care centers.

In West Virginia’ children are required by law to be immunized against chickenpox, hepatitis-b, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough. The commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Resource’s Bureau of Public Health is empowered to grant exemptions under certain circumstances.

Justice is an outspoken advocate for COVID-19 vaccines, continuing to hold twice-per-week COVID-19 briefings and urging West Virginians to get their vaccines and booster doses. But the percentage of young West Virginians vaccinated for COVID-19 remains small.

According to DHHR’s COVID-19 dashboard, only 22.5% of the state’s children between the ages of 5-11 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Only 47.4% of children between the ages of 12-15 have at least one dose, while only 60.9% of children and young adults between the ages of 16-20 have at least one dose.

“I encourage children and I encourage the families to have kids vaccinated, but at the same time as long as I’m your Governor I’ll do everything within my power to prevent the federal government or the West Virginia Legislature from mandating these vaccines in our school system,” he said.

There is likely little support in the Republican-led Legislature for adding COVID-19 vaccines to the other required vaccines in state law. Lawmakers have passed laws over the last two years preventing schools from implementation face mask requirements, prohibiting showing proof of COVID-19 vaccination upon request, codifying exemptions for requirements for COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment.

“I want to be clear: I will strongly defend the rights of our families to choose whether their child receives a COVID-19 vaccination,” state Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, said in a statement last week.

“I will oppose efforts by the DHHR or the Department of Education to go down this path if they choose to do so,” Blair said.

“We have some of the strongest childhood vaccination requirements in the country that allow for very few exceptions, and I will not allow our state agencies to blindly follow this federal recommendation without full consideration from the full Legislature.”

The statements from Justice and Blair came after the CDC’s updated recommendations became the subject of misinformation.

Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson and others began spreading the false claim that the recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination for school children was a mandate. Justice said his statement was meant to alleviate any concerns among parents.

“I always try to be very, very clear with everyone and try to be as upfront and as honest as I know how to be,” Justice said. “There’s too many rumors floating around, and with rumors you get people scared…There’s enough smoke that there’s got to be some fire. With all that being said, I don’t want our parents –who are the ones who should be making those choices — I don’t want them afraid.”