(CNN) -
As back-to-school approaches, some states are banning public schools from requiring COVID-19 shots or proof of vaccination for students ranging from pre-kindergarten through college.
A CNN analysis has found that at least seven states - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Montana, Oklahoma and Utah - have enacted legislation this year that would restrict public schools from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations or documentation from the state of vaccination.
As of June 22, at least 34 states had introduced bills that would limit the obligation for someone to prove their vaccination status or immunity against COVID-19, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which has been tracking related legislation. with coronavirus vaccines.
At least 13 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah) have passed them into law.
At least six of them include language that pertains specifically to schools or education, according to the document.
Such moves leave public health officials concerned about the limitations they could place on efforts to control COVID-19 and emerging variants, especially if a health department has vaccination recommendations for schools.
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"Whenever there is legislation that potentially prohibits the Department of Health from trying to prevent the spread of disease, even if it is putting limits on the use of masks or mandates on vaccination, then it is another step that local health departments would have to take. if there was an outbreak or an increase in cases, "Lori Tremmel Freeman, executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, told CNN.
"It will be worrying that this legislation is becoming more permanent," Freeman added.
What the law of each state says
Laws take different approaches, but the upshot is that schools are unable to require COVID-19 vaccinations or, in some cases, proof of vaccination.
In some states, that's the case even when schools are still waiting for students to arrive with other recommended childhood vaccinations, including those against measles, whooping cough, polio and chicken pox.
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"It seems to be kind of a mixed bag of all the things that are happening here: there is the limitation of requiring proof of the vaccine, there is the limitation of requiring the vaccination itself, the prohibition of mandates. So there is a lot," Freeman said. .
"They are not all uniform," he added.
In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey signed into law SB 267, which states that "educational institutions may continue to need a student to demonstrate immunization status as a condition of attendance only for specific immunizations that were already required by the institution as of January 1, 2021 ", which would not include vaccines against the coronavirus.
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In Arkansas, Law 977 states that receiving a coronavirus vaccine "will not be a condition of education."
And Florida's new law prohibits educational institutions from requiring students or residents to provide documentation certifying vaccination against COVID-19, sometimes described as a "vaccine passport."
Also in Florida, Indiana and Montana
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the law in May, argues that allowing "vaccine passport" requirements would create "two classes of citizens" based on vaccination status, his office told CNN in an email this week. past, and that applies in schools, too.
"Florida's vaccine passport ban applies to schools, colleges and universities," Christina Pushaw, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, wrote in the email.
Floridians have the right to medical privacy, which is why Governor DeSantis has banned invasive 'vaccine passports'.
The law does not require a covid-19 vaccine. "
In Indiana, Law 1405 was signed by Governor Eric J. Holcomb in late April.
It points out that "the state or a local unit cannot issue or require a vaccination passport."
That is, a documentation of a person's vaccination status and thus the requirement for a vaccination would be based on an honor system.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita told CNN that the law applies to public universities as an arm of the state.
But there have been no discussions yet about whether the law applies to local public school districts in Indiana.
What is clear, he said last week, is that the law "approves a requirement. What it prohibits is the test, so what was specifically prohibited was the vaccine passport."
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In Montana, the law signed by Governor Greg Gianforte in May says it is "an illegal discriminatory practice to refuse, deny or withhold" educational opportunities based on a person's immunization status.
In Oklahoma, Senate Bill 658, enacted in June, prohibits a public school district's board of education from requiring COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of admission or attendance.
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And in Utah, House Bill 308, signed by Governor Spencer J. Cox in March, "prohibits a government entity from requiring that a person receive a COVID-19 vaccine."
The state legislature includes public school districts as political subdivisions of the state and public colleges and universities as governmental entities.
"Why would we want to take any legal public health tool off the table?"
Although the laws are not uniform, there is concern among some public health officials that a ban on certain vaccine requirements could affect public opinion on coronavirus vaccines and long-standing school immunization requirements, said consultant Brent Ewig. Policy of the Association of Immunization Administrators.
It is unclear whether the COVID-19 vaccine mandates would aid the absorption of the vaccine or create a backlash, Ewig said.
"I think there are a couple of questions that can help guide this debate going forward, and the first is that with over 600,000 Americans dead, why would we want to take any legal public health tools off the table until we know? What does it take to stop this? "
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There is also concern about public safety and what such legislation could mean for public health as a whole.
Some health officials are concerned that a variant of the coronavirus could emerge that could be more communicable or dangerous.
Or that it could directly affect children.
Banning vaccine mandates in schools could make it difficult to implement measures that would help control the virus and prevent another pandemic.
The Lousiana case
Meanwhile, "we see a couple of states that, even as they are trying to ban some of these mandates, are adding interim language not to apply to school immunization requirements," Freeman said.
"They are trying to walk the line a little bit," he added.
One example is Louisiana, where in July, Governor John Bel Edwards vetoed a bill banning some requirements for vaccination because, according to his office, it would "change Louisiana's focus on vaccination requirements for schools and educational facilities. , which has been in place for decades without significant controversy. "
In the new covid-19 school guide released Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not address vaccine mandates.
However, they point out that tracking the covid-19 vaccination status of students and workers can help inform the prevention strategies used in a school, such as the use of masks and physical distancing.
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The CDC also says that its guide is not a substitute for local guide and policies.
However, the CDC urges schools to take steps to promote covid-19 vaccination, including offering vaccines on the spot, granting paid sick leave for employees to get vaccinated, and excusing absences for them to students get vaccinated.
Vaccines against covid-19 only for people over 12 years old
Vaccines against the coronavirus are available only for people over the age of 12, but vaccines for younger children are being studied.
"Vaccination is currently the main public health prevention strategy to end the covid-19 pandemic," says the guide.
"Promoting vaccination can help schools safely return to in-person learning, as well as extracurricular activities and sports."
So far, most of the discussions about banning covid-19 vaccines in schools have been in the context of college campuses.
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In April, the American College Health Association issued a policy statement recommending covid-19 vaccination requirements for all college and university students on campus for the upcoming fall semester, where law and state resources allow.
Ewig said the focus has been more intense at the college level because vaccines were previously available to people 18 and older.
Also, due to the risk of transmission of covid-19 in university life situations.
"I think the other problem is that because it is still under emergency use authorization it has created some doubts about going too far in this debate on enforcement," he said.
"I have a feeling there are a lot of people biding their time from FDA emergency use authorization to full licensing, which I think we look forward to sometime in the fall."
Could FDA approval change the mandate debate?
There are three coronavirus vaccines that the US Food and Drug Administration has licensed for emergency use in the United States: Pfizer / BioNTech for ages 12 and older, and Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for ages 18 and older.
Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna have begun their applications for full FDA approval, and Johnson & Johnson has said it intends to apply for the license.
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Once the vaccines have received full FDA approval, that could turn things around, said Freeman of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
"Clearance, that's not the same as full approval," Freeman said.
"And that would have to change first before permanent recommendations are made on childhood immunization requirements."
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But while full FDA approval could have an effect at the federal level or in private situations, it would not make a difference under state law in Indiana, Attorney General Rokita told CNN.
"I don't think this problem is going to go away," Rokita said.
"I don't think it's emergency overuse or not, because at the end of the day, this should have to do with people's right to make the health care decisions that best suit their families, their medical circumstances. personal and even religious beliefs. "
Fauci's endorsement of the vaccine requirement
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, believes that part of the doubts about the issuance of the covid-19 vaccine requirements is because the vaccines are still under authorization for emergency use, he told him. CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" on Sunday.
"But people must understand that the amount of data that at this time shows a high degree of effectiveness and a high degree of safety is greater than what we have seen with the emergency use authorization. Therefore, these vaccines are so well as officially approved, with all the I's being dotted and the Ts crossed. It hasn't been done yet because the FDA has to do certain things, but it's already done, "Fauci said.
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When Tapper asked if "in general it is a good idea for companies or schools to require vaccination" against COVID-19, Fauci replied that there should be more mandates.
"There really should be. We are talking about a life and death situation," Fauci said. "We have already lost 600,000 Americans and we are still losing more people. There have been 4 million deaths around the world. This is serious business."