do you keep you kids home on vaccination day?

[kathymuggle]

Just curious - if you are a non-vaxing family and vaxes are done at school, do you send your kids to school on vax days?

DD's class is receiving the HPT, menningitis and Hep tomorrow. Eeek! I did not sign the consent form - indeed checked the "do not vacinate" and wrote on the paper in large letters DO NO VACCINATE - but I am still a little worried.

Kathy

Edited to add: I just read this from a ministry site: ugh!

"The issue of consent for youth is handled in the same way that it is for voluntary vaccines (e.g. Meningococcal vaccine) and consistent with the Health Care Consent Act. That means that, if she were deemed capable by the health care provider, a Grade 8 female could refuse the vaccine even if her parents had signed a consent form and she could consent to receive the vaccination even if her parents had not signed a consent form."

[Alyantavid]

Yes. We do check the "do not vaccinate" box, but I worry that he'll still "accidentally" get it, so we do keep him home.

[mattemma04]

In your case I would.Bigger school,more vaccines,and more chance to mess up.

Our Montessori did offer the pig vaccine after school one day last fall. Since it was after school I let the kids go,but the illnesses that followed...all the sneezing in class the next 2 days was super upsetting. I have read of little kids accidently vaccinated last fall(pig vax) at public schools during the day.Also read of teens being bullied into vaxes despite declining.Not sure if those cases were HepB or the piggy one.

I would skip the day,but they might still be their the next day giving shots too.Look into it.An *oops* we gave the shots to your kid by accident does really happen and what do we do then? We can do nothing.Better to take a day off and avoid the risk.

[whatsnextmom]

Our schools don't vaccinate the kids. Our district offered H1N1 last year but it was a Saturday deal for those that signed up for it.

[CarrieMF]

nope, I've sent her. I've been there when they do the vax's.

The public health nurses take all forms. When they call the child they look over the form & double check that they have the right form for the child. If the box is checked do not vax then they may ask the child if they've already had their vax or if their mom has made an appointment or something like that. No matter what the child says they're sent back to their class(or where ever the class is going after). Unless they outright ignore the form or don't look at it there is no reason why there is a mistake. Public Health would be hurt very badly if they accidentally gave a vax or the wrong one.

The nurse who looks over the form is not the one who gives the injections. She hands the form to the kid & they take it into the room(open door, you can hear everything) where they do the injection. The nurse who looks over the form tells the kid which vax's they are getting & how many needles it is. The child is handed the form to take to the next nurse. That nurse looks over it again & rechecks.

The first year I helped(got kids & stayed with any who were feeling ill/dizzy after, there's usually at least 1 who passes out) there were 3 kids not getting the vax, out of 35ish kids. The 2nd year there were 2 out of about the same number of kids. When my dd was that age there was her & 1 other person.

Some kids don't get it done because their families don't vax at all, some don't because they've already had it done at the clinic, they've already had some but not all, or in other cities where they vax earlier than our divison, some parents have made appointments to take their kids in instead of doing it at the school.

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

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Unless they outright ignore the form or don't look at it there is no reason why there is a mistake. Public Health would be hurt very badly if they accidentally gave a vax or the wrong one.


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I am not worried about them making a mistake - I am worried about them trying to talk her into it, or someone who is gung-ho pressuring her into it.

DD is 11, she is strong but doing anything different from the group is hard at this age, and standing up to medical personel difficult at any age...I am afraid she might be pressured and give in.

There is no age of consent in Ontario - consent is when the health care providers deem the person capable of understanding the information about procedures.

[Qbear'smama]

I think I would. esp given your daughter's age. DD goes to a private school in Ontario and I don't recall them having a "vaccine day" but I think they may have had a vaccine clinic at the school after-hours. My DD is 4 so at that age I doubt they would discuss it with her and/or that she would feel pressured, but as a young adult I was convinced/coerced to have a flu shot by a doctor so I think it can happen with a young person who's intimidated by medical personnel trying to convince them (or peers who have been exposed to pro-vax messages).

[kathymuggle]

She is home.

What cinched it was when her friend told her the health unit had told them all last year that the kids were old enough to make up their own minds on the issue - which just cemented my worries.

DD is not interested in being vaxed - but she is not interested in dealing with a perhaps disapproving health unit, either. She was perfectly OK with taking the day off.