Need help - selective vax and starting kindergarten

[petitchou]

Ds turned 5 in November and will start kindergarten next fall.  He has received all the vaccines he needs except the Hep B series (needs all 3 of them) and varicella and I really don't want to give him those.  However, short of a religious exemption, I'm not sure how to do that.  If I'm correct, I can't selectively vax with a religious exemption, right? I'm in VA.  And if I sign a religious exemption, does that mean I can't vaccinate my other two younger children at all?  Is it really an all or nothing decision here?

We saw our ped today for the first time in....awhile. Kids haven't been sick enough to go and we are still discussing vaccines here and I didn't want that pressure. But we have a new little one and ds1 is entering kindergarten and we needed to go.  She was very nice until we got to the vaccine conversation.  I felt really pressured to get them completely caught up on all vaccines immediately. There was a lot of pressure and a bit of eyerolling on her part but once that was over, she moved on and the rest of the visit was fine.  She obviously won't sign off on the required kindergarten papers though and I'm not sure she'd accept us if I said I decided to not vax at all. And I'm not sure what she'd do if I told her ds1 has a religious exemption at school but asked for selective vaccines for the younger two kids. I don't know whether to be happy she didn't push the issue beyond what she did or be upset and look for a new ped because she did have a bit of an attitude during that part of the conversation. There is another ped that does not vax at all but he's about an hour away and doesn't take insurance. With 3 little ones, I don't know if I want to drive that far every time they get sick plus it would be rather expensive. I've considered a family physician but not sure that's going to be a whole lot different than the ped.

I feel like I'm rambling and can't quite get my thoughts together. I don't know anyone IRL to talk with that questions vaccines and I just feel so lost and confused right now.:(

[emmy526]

Family practitioners imo, don't seem to have such a pushy attitude about vaxing, but that could change in a few years, with all the hype about getting adults caught up now too. Plus, they treat the whole family. which is nice, if you have a lot of kids..when one gets something, its easier having a family dr treating everyone at the same time, moms, n dads too.

[shiningpearl]

you "might" be able to use religious and not do those two.  I believe chicken pox uses fetal tissue as a growth medium and Hep B is a "moral" disease.  

A friend of my sisters is planning on catching up her daughters to attend high school but they will not be getting the HPV vaccine, stating moral/religious reasons.  

The only other thing you could "try" but if there is an outbreak you might have to prove immunity (I would do it by blood tests) is to not include your vaccine history at all and sign a religious exemption.  

[emmy526]

another option is to sign a religious waiver, take child to clinic for selected vaccines whenever  you feel like it, say nothing about it to the school,  and also call and opt out of the state vaccine registry.  That way if the nurse at school is cross referencing data on vaccines and students, your child's name will not come up, stating he had this or that vax recently. This way, you can religiously do whatever you feel is right, and you're not violating any school regs.....theoretically, if theres an outbreak of chicken pox, he will be required to stay home unless he can prove immunity thru titer testing. 

And  I think you should at least call the family dr and see what their office policies are in regards to selective vaccinating, and treating your whole family. What can it hurt to find out? Maybe you can even go meet them first. 

[petitchou]

Interesting. I'm never quite sure how much to say to anybody. If we do selective vaccines at a clinic and I don't tell school, I assume we don't tell the dr either, right? So I would need to find someone accepting no vax patients. It would be so nice to not be pressured at every visit about it! I'm curious - do you ask up front about their vaccine policy or just state your position and see what they say? Or just keep refusing vaccines and hope they eventually get the hint? Someone once told me that less direct is better but my ped seems to take that as a sign that she needs to tell me that my kids could DIE if they don't get caught up on ALL their vaccines right now. I'm thinking I need to be more direct!

[Marnica]

Your only option really is what Emmy suggested. In VA it is all or nothing and no you can not file a religious exemption and then vaccinate your younger children. Objecting to vaccination on religious grounds means you object to the practice as a whole - not just to fetal tissue That is considered a philisophical/moral objection.

If you want to be able to selectively vax in a state that does not offer this option,you would need to get what you want at a clinic - pay out of pocket and make sure that you opt of of Virginia's vaccine registry for ALL of your children. (You may contact VIIS Consultants by calling 804.864.8055 if you want your child to opt-out of VIIS )

The ped situation is a sticky one because I think any doc treating a child should be aware of any vaccines they have received. In your case it doesn;t seem like you can really do much of anything but be direct with your current ped. Ask her if she is willing to just do the vaccines you want to do and when. She obviously cannot sign off on any school papers so you would have to be honest about the fact that you are filing an exemption to deal with the school issue. If she feels she cannot treat your children - so be it. Find someone else or go the clinic route. In any case I would opt out of the registry. I think its totally creepy how this country and the government wants to keep tabs on us all the time....Even if I did vax, I would opt out, but Im big on privacy as it is.

[emmy526]

Originally Posted by petitchou 

Interesting. I'm never quite sure how much to say to anybody. If we do selective vaccines at a clinic and I don't tell school, I assume we don't tell the dr either, right? So I would need to find someone accepting no vax patients. It would be so nice to not be pressured at every visit about it! I'm curious - do you ask up front about their vaccine policy or just state your position and see what they say? Or just keep refusing vaccines and hope they eventually get the hint? Someone once told me that less direct is better but my ped seems to take that as a sign that she needs to tell me that my kids could DIE if they don't get caught up on ALL their vaccines right now. I'm thinking I need to be more direct!

You could let the dr know you went to the clinic instead for vaccines...what's she going to say/do? Fire you? i doubt it, and if they did, more power to them...you don't need an office like that anyway...And i'm thinking you just need to find another dr who respects you as their mother, YOU pay her, not the other way around, she doesn't pay you to follow her advice, and you  nor your ins. co. don't need to pay for a dr who doesn't listen or respect your choices. Call around and ask them, "what is your office policy in regards to vaccination? Do you allow a parent to have a choice or do you insist all your patients are vaxed?"    in my experience,  It's better to be honest from the get go when finding a new dr,...why put yourself thru all the aggravation again by not saying anything, only  to find out you will be disrespected again, and on the search again for yet another dr.