Letter from the health dept.

[Serenyd]

I got a letter from the health dept. the other day stating they believed me son had missed some "vital" vaccinations and that I should make an appointment to come in. We are on Medicaid but we use a private pediatrician for routine care, and rarely even go the health dept. Should I be worried?

[amnesiac]

Nope.

[soxthecatrules]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. The only reason I responded to your thread is that one of my aunts is the person from our local health department that's responsible for vaccine administration. She sends out such letters.

From what I've heard her say....for the most part they're really more concerned about the kiddos that really don't get any kind of health care whatsoever. Kiddos whose parents really don't care about anything. I was under the impression that they're not after the educated parent(s) that are consiously objecting for any number of reasons.

[angelpie545]

People tend to assume that if a child who has medicaid is unvaccinated it's because of lack of resources, knowledge, or education on the part of the parent. That's probably why you received the letter. I would just ignore it, and keep a copy of your state's law regarding exemptions.

[just_lily]

My public health office called me to make sure I knew that my DD was "eligible for free immunizations!" (We are in Canada.) Umm, yes of course I know that. I just told them that we wouldn't be vaxing.

I don't think they really expected that answer. She asked if I had any questions and I said that I had done hours and hours of research and that I was all hooked up. So she wrote that in our file. The end.

[_betsy_]

I get pre-printed, glossy advertisment-looking notices occassionally statin my "child may have missed an important vaccination" or whatever the wording is. It goes straight into the shredding pile, just like all other junk mail.

[mkmoro311]

Originally Posted by _betsy_

I get pre-printed, glossy advertisment-looking notices occassionally statin my "child may have missed an important vaccination" or whatever the wording is. It goes straight into the shredding pile, just like all other junk mail.

You should put Return To Sender on the envelope! I wonder if its considered harrassment?

[Serenyd]

Thanks for the reassurance. Yes, Betsy it was one of those glossy pre-printed deals. Still I was wondering if they were going to start calling me next or call social services or what. I am terrified of CPS. I know my rights but it seems like from the stories I've heard CPS makes its own rules. Oh, and we live in MS - no philosophical or religious vaccine exemptions.