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The city of San Francisco currently enforces a strict proof-of-vaccination mandate that requires all individuals 12 and older to show they are vaccinated against COVID-19 for a wide array of indoor activities, including indoor dining and exercise.
Now that children ages 5 to 11 can be vaccinated against COVID-19, the city says that the mandate will apply to young children in the near future.
"We definitely want to wait and make sure that children have an opportunity to get vaccinated," city Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip said during a Tuesday town hall on child vaccination. "That will happen no sooner than about eight weeks after the vaccine is available to kids. So there will be a limited time in which there will not be those requirements, but then at some point, 5- to 11-year-olds will also have to show proof of vaccination to access some of those same settings."
On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially recommended the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
The Food and Drug Administration gave the vaccine an emergency use authorization last week, and typically, governments and employers have waited for full approval before issuing vaccine mandates. The bulk of state, local and corporate mandates did not come down until after the FDA granted full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for individuals ages 16 and older at the end of August.