vaccinations at FCPS?

[Anonymous]

This is getting way too much like the peanut allergy debate. Where does the burden lie? On the parents of allergic kids to teach their kids to stay away from allergens or the parents of non-allergic kids to keep the allergens away from the allergic kids? It's just silly. Everyone is doing the best they can with the knowledge they have and their personal beliefs.

[Anonymous]

[ I would like to think that administration would not place a child with an immune deficiency in a classroom with an unvaccinated child and it would be wise for the parents of a child with such issues to ask exactly that of the school administration when classes are being assigned.

It's not that a child who is medically fragile has an "immune deficiency" -- it's that they have a medical problem that makes them ineligible to get vaccines. They are entitled to go to school, but they are relying on herd immunity (i.e. other people getting vaccines and therefore keeping the disease out of the school). Kids who are "relying on God" are creating epidemics of whooping cough and measles.

Clearly I won't change your mind. You are very lucky to live in the US where we do allow such diversity of choice. I wish on the issue of vaccines that we did not and that people who refuse them for personal reasons would be kept out of schools, and for that matter, the public in general.

Has it occurred to you that maybe "God" provided humans the ability to come up with vaccines and that's the "life boat" He is sending you? Maybe you aren't really relying on "God" at all --- maybe you are just relying on other people who do vaccinate? And if you are relying on God, doesn't that presume that God either caused people who die of diseases to get those diseases or He just doesn't care about people who get diseases? That's a pretty mean god you are relying on.

[Anonymous]

So what if you are against certain vaccines for religious reasons, but not others? Like if one vaccine has monkey DNA or something, but another does not? Or what if you are against the HPV vaccine b/c you think it will make your kid have sex before marriage? But maybe you are OK with polio vaccine? Is this OK? Also do you have to be a certain religion? Like a mennoite or a christian scientist? Or what if you are just a catholic?

[Anonymous]

You are such a liar. Or, you're really that gullible. There are medical exemptions used for many reasons. There are philisophical exemptions in many states. In the DC metro area, there religious exemptions that are required by law to be honored without question.

I'm not a liar nor am I gullible. Your tone was totally uncalled for.

What do philosophical exemptions in other states have to do with it? OP is asking about FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Again, this is a flat out lie. I vaccinated my kids in the beginning. Only recently did I realize the dangers of vaccines through my own children's vaccine injuries. So now I use the religious exemption and I'm never questioned, even though I used to vaccinate.

You do realize you are lying, right? You stated that your children were injured by vaccines and you no longer vaccinate, but you claim a religious exemption. Your decision not to vaccinate isn't based on your religious views. You're lying when you claim the exemption.

The religious exemption is for people whose religious views prevent them from vaccinating, not for everyone who decides not to vaccinate for whatever reason.

[Anonymous]

I understand that others may think that it is selfish and reckless. Some people might think that driving in a full burka might be unsafe. Some people might think that choosing holistic medicine is ridiculous. The reality of it all is the beauty of the United States of America. I am not relying on herd immunity to keep my children safe. I am relying on God. That is why there are religious exemptions available. I would like to think that administration would not place a child with an immune deficiency in a classroom with an unvaccinated child and it would be wise for the parents of a child with such issues to ask exactly that of the school administration when classes are being assigned.

Do you really think the schools can manage this from an administrative standpoint? What if a child develops a health condition during the year? That child should be pulled out of the class mid-year because your unvaccinated child is in the class? I guess all unvaccinated kids should be in the same class so that we have other "safe" classes for the immuno-compromised children. How about the cafeteria? We should segregate that too. And the bus - a small enclosed space where germs travel well. Should we have a separate bus? I think my school has enough to do without worrying about shielding children with medical issues from unvaccinated kids. If my child has a health condition that makes him vulnerable, I am supposed to make the school tell me which children he could come in contact with throughout his day & then ask the school to separate them? Telling me which children aren't vaccinated violates their privacy, so someone at the school would have to be in charge of administering this & keeping these kids separated.

If your religious views truly prevent you from vaccinating, so be it. But be honest about what's going on. You may like to think you're not relying on herd immunity, but you most certainly are. Your unvaccinated kids haven't gotten these diseases because we live in an area where vaccine-preventable diseases are rare - because everyone else has been vaccinated.

And when an illness that we haven't vaccinated for comes along, like swine flu, it sweeps through the unvaccinated population like wildfire. When swine flu hit our elementary school, about a third of the kids were sick, some extremely sick, because many people could not get vaccinated in time. This could easily happen with pertussis, chicken pox, polio, etc if large numbers of people stop vaccinating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I understand that others may think that it is selfish and reckless. Some people might think that driving in a full burka might be unsafe. Some people might think that choosing holistic medicine is ridiculous. The reality of it all is the beauty of the United States of America. I am not relying on herd immunity to keep my children safe. I am relying on God. That is why there are religious exemptions available. I would like to think that administration would not place a child with an immune deficiency in a classroom with an unvaccinated child and it would be wise for the parents of a child with such issues to ask exactly that of the school administration when classes are being assigned.

Do you really think the schools can manage this from an administrative standpoint? What if a child develops a health condition during the year? That child should be pulled out of the class mid-year because your unvaccinated child is in the class? I guess all unvaccinated kids should be in the same class so that we have other "safe" classes for the immuno-compromised children. How about the cafeteria? We should segregate that too. And the bus - a small enclosed space where germs travel well. Should we have a separate bus? I think my school has enough to do without worrying about shielding children with medical issues from unvaccinated kids. If my child has a health condition that makes him vulnerable, I am supposed to make the school tell me which children he could come in contact with throughout his day & then ask the school to separate them? Telling me which children aren't vaccinated violates their privacy, so someone at the school would have to be in charge of administering this & keeping these kids separated.

If your religious views truly prevent you from vaccinating, so be it. But be honest about what's going on. You may like to think you're not relying on herd immunity, but you most certainly are. Your unvaccinated kids haven't gotten these diseases because we live in an area where vaccine-preventable diseases are rare - because everyone else has been vaccinated.

And when an illness that we haven't vaccinated for comes along, like swine flu, it sweeps through the unvaccinated population like wildfire. When swine flu hit our elementary school, about a third of the kids were sick, some extremely sick, because many people could not get vaccinated in time. This could easily happen with pertussis, chicken pox, polio, etc if large numbers of people stop vaccinating.

Wow. What a pretentious snob are you?

How do you have the right to question the validity of anyones religious or moral beliefs?
Would you expect a Jewish person to break kosher on the basis that it might help protect a hypothetical kid with a health prob?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty much all or nothing unless you want to homeschool. The only exemption is religious (or medical but that's hard to get) and you have to reject all vaccines if you take the religious exemption.

Again, this is a flat out lie. I vaccinated my kids in the beginning. Only recently did I realize the dangers of vaccines through my own children's vaccine injuries. So now I use the religious exemption and I'm never questioned, even though I used to vaccinate.

It is NOT a lie. The reason you are able to do that is because your religious views can change and you can stop vaccinating entirely. But if you chose to get your child one vaccination now and not others and still try to take the religious exemption, you would have a problem. I know this because I started using the religious exemption after vaccine injuries so my kids are all partially vaccinated. You really don't know what you're talking about and you need to stop calling people liars.

My apologies!! Yes you are correct that you cannot pick and choose and use exemptions. I misread and misinterpreted what you had written. I am sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty much all or nothing unless you want to homeschool. The only exemption is religious (or medical but that's hard to get) and you have to reject all vaccines if you take the religious exemption.

Again, this is a flat out lie. I vaccinated my kids in the beginning. Only recently did I realize the dangers of vaccines through my own children's vaccine injuries. So now I use the religious exemption and I'm never questioned, even though I used to vaccinate.

It is NOT a lie. The reason you are able to do that is because your religious views can change and you can stop vaccinating entirely. But if you chose to get your child one vaccination now and not others and still try to take the religious exemption, you would have a problem. I know this because I started using the religious exemption after vaccine injuries so my kids are all partially vaccinated. You really don't know what you're talking about and you need to stop calling people liars.

My apologies!! Yes you are correct that you cannot pick and choose and use exemptions. I misread and misinterpreted what you had written. I am sorry.

No worries It's easy to get defensive in these discussions and misinterpret posts.

[Anonymous]

so what is the consensus here? You can still use religious exemptions if you have vaccinated before? What if you just join a religion or convert?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:so what is the consensus here? You can still use religious exemptions if you have vaccinated before? What if you just join a religion or convert?

The way I understand it, you can use the exemption is you have vaccinated in the past and your religious views change and you decide to never vaccinate again. If you give any more vaccinations while taking the religious exemption, this would be considered suspect. Also, if you take the religious exemption, you must be prepared to defend and explain your views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so what is the consensus here? You can still use religious exemptions if you have vaccinated before? What if you just join a religion or convert?

The way I understand it, you can use the exemption is you have vaccinated in the past and your religious views change and you decide to never vaccinate again. If you give any more vaccinations while taking the religious exemption, this would be considered suspect. Also, if you take the religious exemption, you must be prepared to defend and explain your views.

Does this mean that you have to be a certain religion that is well known for not using medicines, like Christian Scientist or Mennonite or Amish? Or can you be a Catholic or Protestant and still get religious exemptions.