Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're still talking about this? There's a boatload of vaccines your child MUST have - by law - before they can start kindergarten. What's another vaccine?

…every other vaccine actually prevents whatever it's intended to protect against..

Last line above is simply untrue. Many vaccines are intended to prevent hospitalization and death.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're still talking about this? There's a boatload of vaccines your child MUST have - by law - before they can start kindergarten. What's another vaccine?

Or you can just refuse on religious grounds.

Isn't the COVID vaccine still not even fully approved for children under 12? Why are we having discussions about something being mandated that's only authorised under an emergency that is about to expire? How will it continue to be an emergency authorisation after May 11? Very curious about the mental gymnastics needed for this.

Anonymous wrote:We're still talking about this? There's a boatload of vaccines your child MUST have - by law - before they can start kindergarten. What's another vaccine?

Or you can just refuse on religious grounds.

Anonymous wrote:We're still talking about this? There's a boatload of vaccines your child MUST have - by law - before they can start kindergarten. What's another vaccine?

My youngest is nine and she and her siblings are all vaxxed and boosted. Was it the right call? We think so. Was it an absolute slam dunk? No.

The bolded is not how medicine and science work.

Anonymous wrote:We're still talking about this? There's a boatload of vaccines your child MUST have - by law - before they can start kindergarten. What's another vaccine?

Yes, we are still talking about this since every other vaccine actually prevents whatever it's intended to protect against. There is also overwhelming evidence the benefits outweigh the risks for all the other vaccines. Neither is the case for the COVID vaccines.

We're still talking about this? There's a boatload of vaccines your child MUST have - by law - before they can start kindergarten. What's another vaccine?

Anonymous wrote:For those showing all the evidence that the COVID vaccine is not even recommended in European countries, you're talking to ideological nuts who don't follow the science. Force vaxxing people is now a political test, even though like a minority of kids under 12 in the US are vaccinated (and a really tiny % under 5).

It's actually really sad that DC is the complete outlier for the United States with most private schools requiring vaccination. Pretty much every other city has dropped this requirement in the face of evidence and/or backlash. I am sure you can pull up some schools elsewhere that require it but by and large, DC is unique. Europe as a whole took a much more measured and cautious approach with regards to any sort of restrictions on children, not looking at Spain in the early days who literally locked their children inside for months (there were even articles about weight gain in children and how this created different issues). Europe generally doesn't turn to medical intervention at the sign of a sniffle and are certainly much more cautious about what goes into your body- from what's allowed in food to toothpaste to recommended/required vaccines.

Anonymous wrote:For those showing all the evidence that the COVID vaccine is not even recommended in European countries, you're talking to ideological nuts who don't follow the science. Force vaxxing people is now a political test, even though like a minority of kids under 12 in the US are vaccinated (and a really tiny % under 5).

It's the only way to fight Fascism...

For those showing all the evidence that the COVID vaccine is not even recommended in European countries, you're talking to ideological nuts who don't follow the science. Force vaxxing people is now a political test, even though like a minority of kids under 12 in the US are vaccinated (and a really tiny % under 5).

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe any schools would still be requiring this vaccine these days. I'd be worried about the school's ability to instill critical thinking skills since it is CLEARLY not needed for that population.

Schools contemplating vaccine requirements for the fall should consider recent studies, like this one from the Cleveland Clinic which evaluated the bivalent booster:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.17.22283625v1.full

"There were too few severe illnesses for the study to be able to determine if the vaccine decreased severity of illness."
"The risk of COVID-19 also varied by the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses previously received. The higher the number of vaccines previously received, the higher the risk of contracting COVID-19 (Figure 2)."
"The association of increased risk of COVID-19 with higher numbers of prior vaccine doses in our study, was unexpected. This is not the only study to find a possible association with more prior vaccine doses and higher risk of COVID-19. A large study found that those who had an Omicron variant infection after previously receiving three doses of vaccine had a higher risk of reinfection than those who had an Omicron variant infection after previously receiving two doses of vaccine [21]. Another study found that receipt of two or three doses of a mRNA vaccine following prior COVID-19 was associated with a higher risk of reinfection than receipt of a single dose [7]. We still have a lot to learn about protection from COVID-19 vaccination, and in addition to a vaccine’s effectiveness it is important to examine whether multiple vaccine doses given over time may not be having the beneficial effect that is generally assumed."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think last year someone was saying Potomac didn’t require it. I may be thinking about Flint Hill, but I’m pretty sure one of them isn’t requiring it. Potomac is Trump territory so it wouldn’t surprise me.

What does the Trump comment mean? The school leans left but are you saying all of Virginia is Trump territory?

Potomac parent and the school could not be further from Trump territory. It’s progressive but leans left.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whether it is required or not, it is stupid not to have the kids get vaccinated.

You really think that type of comment is going to convince anyone?

I’m not the PP, but if someone has refused to get themselves or their children vaccinated in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence regarding its safety and efficacy, nothing will convince them. You can’t get through to someone like that. My friend is an ER doctor in the south, and she said even after people had been put on a vent, they refused to get vaxxed, claiming Covid was mild for most. There is nothing more anyone can say or do to break through to people who are so blind to facts. But they are idiots to not get vaccinated at this point, and I very much hope all the schools in the area require it.

Whether or not the vaccine benefits outweigh the risk for very specific age groups and genders is debatable. Many people have vaccinated themselves while making more cautious decisions for their children. The fact that a child is not vaccinated does not make parents idiots. Do you call the parents in a good portion of Europe idiots because it is no longer recommended for healthy children to get vaccinated, since their health departments determined the risk did not outweigh the benefits?

Denmark: https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-Denmark-vaccine-children-439807145775

Sweden: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/sweden-decides-against-recommending-covid-vaccines-kids-aged-5-12-2022-01-27/

Germany: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-vaccine-panel-recommends-covid-shot-only-sick-small-children-2022-11-17/

Netherlands:https://www.rivm.nl/en/covid-19-vaccination/questions-and-background-information/vaccination-children-5-11

WHO: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/29/health/who-updates-covid-vaccine-recommendations-intl-hnk/index.html

I could keep going...

But what does Germany recommend for children 5 and up? The article only mentions children 4 and under, unless I missed it.

Germany recommends the vaccine for all children 5 and older.

That is not correct. Germany does not recommend covid vaccination in youth under age 18. This url is in German but you can use a translator:
https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/Kommissionen/STIKO/Empfehlungen/PM_2023-04-25.html

"Routine COVID-19 vaccination (primary or booster) is not recommended for healthy children and adolescents under the age of 18. Among the omicron variants, the disease severity (including potential long-term consequences) in this age group has developed towards predominantly mild or asymptomatic courses. The evidence available to date shows that SARS-CoV-2 infections in children and adolescents are generally unproblematic. The STIKO therefore no longer recommends vaccination in this age group."

In addition, people aged 18-59 are not recommended for an annual booster:
"The STIKO is updating its COVID-19 vaccination recommendation: In future, it will recommend an annual booster vaccination for people with an increased risk of developing a severe course of the disease (people aged 60 and over, people aged 6 months and over with relevant underlying diseases, residents of care facilities) and for people with increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection (medical and nursing staff). People between the ages of 18 and 59 without underlying diseases are recommended to achieve basic immunity, consisting of at least 2 vaccinations and another antigen contact (vaccination or infection)."