SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio ISD Superintendent Pedro Martinez last week issued a vaccine mandate requiring all staff members to be vaccinated by Friday, Oct. 15.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in turn, said the mandate violates Gov. Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA-38 and sought a restraining order against the district.

However, that order prohibits a vaccine mandate for a vaccine made available under emergency conditions. On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to the vaccine manufactured by Pfizer, and with that the district is no longer in violation of Abbott’s executive order.

On Friday, Aug. 20, and following Paxton’s lawsuit, Martinez amended his mandate to state that the district will not compel staff to be vaccinated until the vaccines receive full approval by the FDA.

In a tweet and corresponding news release, Paxton framed the development as a victory.

“State law could not be clearer: ‘No governmental entity can compel any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine administered under an emergency use authorization.’ But San Antonio ISD tried to play by its own set of rules. Thankfully, we stopped them,” Paxton wrote. “The law states that ‘receiving a COVID-19 vaccine under an emergency use authorization is always voluntary in Texas and will never be mandated by the government.’ I will always fight to support the rule of law."

A recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows the majority of Americans are in favor of mask and vaccine mandates, though the numbers are sharply divided along party lines.