As parents and caregivers, we are thrilled that Mayor Bowser mandated vaccination against COVID-19 for all DC government employees including DCPS teachers and staff, but we feel the requirement falls short in protecting children in other childcare settings, particularly DC daycare facilities. We call upon the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and Mayor Muriel Bowser to expand the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirement to include all licensed childcare providers. 

Washington, DC is home to over 26,000 children under 3 years old, none of which are currently eligible for vaccination against COVID-19, but many of them receive care in licensed childcare facilities that do not require vaccination for childcare providers. The best action to ensure the health and safety of our most vulnerable youth is to ensure their adult caregivers are fully vaccinated.

In order to ensure the health and safety of our children, our care providers, and our greater DC community, we request the following: 

1. OSSE should mandate COVID-19 vaccination for all childcare center employees. OSSE is the organization responsible for licensing and oversight of DC childcare facilities, and we believe a mandatory vaccination requirement is consistent with other health requirements for childcare center employees (i.e. physical examinations and negative TB tests pre-employment). We believe in the efficacy of all COVID-19 vaccinations, but the full FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine is a landmark moment in our fight against COVID-19. We hope full FDA approval will instill additional urgency to authorize a broader vaccine mandate.  
2. OSSE must require full transparency about the vaccination rates among childcare providers in DC childcare facilities under their oversight. Individual childcare centers must publish and report on their rate of vaccination amongst childcare providers and support staff.

We must act now to ensure the health and safety of DC children, their families, their caregivers, and their community.