Do I have to worry about the school adminstering vaccines?

[laohaire]

This may be a naive question, but many things have changed since I was in school and I wondered if this might have changed too.

DD is on a waiting list to start public preschool in the fall.

Do schools ever take it upon themselves to administer any vaccines for their students? Do school nurses ever administer vaccines?

I'm just a little nervous about DD getting one at school without/against my consent. I would not have worried about this before, but these days you can get a flu shot at the grocery store, so it didn't seem quite as unthinkable. I wonder about flu shots, swine flu shots, varicella shots, even HPV shots for preteens, are they EVER administered at school?

[Youngfrankenstein]

In this day and age when they have to get written permission to take your child's photo, I'd be stunned if they would even attempt such a thing.

I know they do eye exams and such but I don't think they can do anything to them without permission.

[ZoeyZoo]

Mixups could occur but they are not allowed without consent.

There was an article posted here on MDC where there the family was sueing because the school vaxed a girl whose parent's refused. It was in the UK if I remember right.

I thought some states allow an older child to consent though.

[naturalmommy09]

i went to a public school, not to long ago, im a young mother. they DO administer vax at some schools but cannot vax a child U18 without parental consent.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Here they DO flu shots and flu mist at school. They send a consent form home to sign though. But I keep my kids home that day just in case.

They offer free physicals here for school and during those vax are given that are supposed to be given at that time. They have to have consent for that as well.

I have heard they will be offering H1N1 flu as well here when it comes out. I always make sure that I tell the teacher in person no vax of any kind and when they send the consent home I write all over it NO!!! dh laughs at me because I use red marker and literally cover the page with no's

[Llyra]

In some cases they're allowing older girls (still underage) to give consent for the HPV vaccine. I have heard about that, particularly in New York State. I do know, here, however, that the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required for a vaccine to be administered.

I think it probably can't hurt for you to submit a letter for your child's file that categorically states that you don't give consent for ANY medical treatment of any kind other than what is required to protect life and health in an emergency, and then only until you can be contacted.

[laohaire]

OK, thanks for the input.

I do agree that in this day and age they have a waiver for everything, but it also seems that everyone still assumes you agree to vaccinating. I've certainly read a few stories on here about newborns getting procedures (HepB, circumcision and other procedures) without/against parental consent just because the staff had never seen a refusal and just assumed everything was consented to.

So it sounds to me like it's very very very rare but it does happen occasionally.

Well, good to keep in mind.

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X

dh laughs at me because I use red marker and literally cover the page with no's

From what I've read, this is probably a good idea - seems people don't read the consent form, just check that it's THERE, and assume it's signed and so on.

[Jen78fl]

Thanks for posting this. This is something I am worried about for my son. I had never even heard of schools giving vaccines, until now, when they are planning on giving the H1N1 vaccines at the schools. I do hope they will send a note home beforehand and I would sign no on a consent form. Id probably just keep him home on the day of the vaccines though, just to be safe... My son cant even refuse the shot, he has autism and is nonverbal. So I am really scared for him in this situation

[time4another]

Um, so its one thing to keep them home from school the day they vaccinate.

and


assuming that the kids will be getting the flu mist....

should you keep them out of school longer?

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by Jen78fl

I do hope they will send a note home beforehand and I would sign no on a consent form.

Based on what I've seen, I think it's best if you actually don't sign on the dotted line, even if you mark "no" elsewhere on the page.

Meaning, I think a lot of HCPs just glance at the signature line and then proceed.

I guess if I'm in this situation I'll write NO or DO NOT CONSENT in red letters on the signature line, and maybe sign BELOW it. That hopefully would stand out a bit more.

Though honestly, I think I might also go to the extreme of just keeping her out of school the day of the vaccinations to be safe.

It's funny, I'm not even 100% opposed to vaccinations. We might vaccinate in the future, who knows. But I am very concerned to make sure that if and when we decide to vaccinate, we're making that choice - and not having anyone else make that choice for us.

As context, I wrote this thread partly because I feel so out of touch with the current school system. For example, I had NO IDEA there were public preschools! They sure didn't have them when I was a kid. So when I got the enrollment form in the mail, I was like, what's this? They didn't even confirm it was free, no information, just forms to fill out. So I could easily believe that these days it's standard to get all your kids vaccinations with the school nurse, for all I know!

[Jen78fl]

thanks lao... Do you think they will be doing all the vaccinations in just one day??

[KoalaMommy]

It is illegal to administer a shot to a child without parental consent. Anything that punctures the skin is considered a surgical procedure and therefore covered by all kinds of laws. They can't even administer a vax to an adult without signed consent.

I think it's ridiculous for schools to administer shots. Have a shot clinic after hours, but for heaven's sake. and do they wait 10 or 20 minutes to asses the site afterward?

[caned & able]

Google Marcella Gruelle and Raggedy Ann to find out if schools can vaccinate without a parents' consent.

There is informed consent now, but mix ups can happen.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Originally Posted by time4another

Um, so its one thing to keep them home from school the day they vaccinate.

and


assuming that the kids will be getting the flu mist....

should you keep them out of school longer?

If you can do that then it would probably be a good idea. But even if you do there is still going to be the risk that they get the flu from others exposed to the flu mist.

[Jen78fl]

Just wondering, would it be best to have a medical waiver for your child if you want to avoid vaccinations at school? I have a religious waiver for him right now but Im wondering if the school would take more notice of a medical waiver. My son has autism and a DAN doctor and I am going to find out if he would be able to give us a medical waiver.. I guess I am thinking along the lines of if the new flu vaccine becomes mandatory. I appreciate any opinions on this. Thanks

Jennifer

[maxwill129]

DH thinks we should write NO VACCINES on ds's forehead with black marker just in case there were to be any mixups...

[MyBoysBlue]

We live in Rural Canada so when the yearly flu shot clinic comes to town it's one day and for the whole community and it's set up in the school gym. I just plan on keeping DS home that day.

I forgot last year and sent him to school that day but there were no mix ups at least any effecting him. I'd even recieved papers the week before stating which regular vaxes he was behind on and if I wanted him to recive them when they were there. I just signed "No, not at this time." He was completely vaxed but we have since stopped vaxing so he was only missing the boosters.

I like the black marker Idea. Maybe on each shoulder though.

[Jen78fl]

hmmmm how about a tattoo on the arm that says no vaccines? now theres an idea!

[lovbeingamommy]

Originally Posted by Jen78fl

hmmmm how about a tattoo on the arm that says no vaccines? now theres an idea!

hey, that's good thinkin'


I've been in the p.s. system going on 20 years in AZ and I've never seen any type of vaccinations given by a school nurse. However, districts will generally have a immunization clinic (a designated place - it might be at a school site) where routine vaxs are given with parental consent.