By: Tamika Washington
Parents who have not yet gotten their kids vaccinated need to hurry. The deadline: 14 days from the start of school. They must also present proof that kids have gotten the first dose of each immunization. Parents are also required to make appointments for the next of injections within four weeks.
“When New York lawmakers revoked a religious exemption for mandatory school vaccinations, the change sent thousands of the state’s parents scrambling to get their kids shots — or get them out of the classroom entirely,” reported Vos Iz Neias. “Lawmakers did away with the exemption in June amid the nation’s worst measles outbreak since 1992. More than 26,000 children in public and private schools and day care centers had previously gone unvaccinated for religious reasons, according to the state Health Department.”
In August, a New York State Supreme Court judge rejected a request from parents to temporarily block a new state law that abolished religious exemptions from vaccinations for school children.
“Acting Supreme Court Justice Denise Hartman of Albany issued a decision late Friday that upheld the law passed in June in response to the worst measles epidemic in decades,” noted newyorkupstate.com. “In her decision, Hartman acknowledged the “magnitude of disruption and potential harm” families may suffer if they have to violate religious beliefs and vaccinate their children, home-school them or move out of state. School begins next week for many children across the state.”
“Some families have already decided to home-school children, or move out of New York state altogether, rather than adhere to the new vaccine mandate, educators said,” according to USA Today’s lohud.com. “Other parents are instead choosing to vaccinate their kids, despite long-held religious objections, to ensure they’re able to return to classes this fall, according to court records and school officials. But many parents opposed to vaccinating their children seem to be waiting for the last possible moment, despite public-health warnings about the potential resurgence of measles this school year.”
New York State became the fourth (California, Mississippi and West Virginia are the others) to scrap religious and personal-belief exemptions for vaccines. Maine is said to be preparing to get rid of them in 2021. More than 1,200 cases of measles have been confirmed in 30 states this year, more than three-quarters of them linked to outbreaks in New York and New York City, the Centers for Disease Control reported.
“Many of the New York cases have been among unvaccinated people in Orthodox Jewish communities . Resistance to vaccinations remains, despite scientific evidence that they are both safe and effective,” said ABC News.
“The state Health Department will audit schools to assure compliance with the new law and require unvaccinated students without a valid medical excuse to leave school, spokeswoman Jill Montag said. Schools already submit annual surveys about immunization coverage and are subject to spot checks to confirm their answers. Schools that violate the rules could face fines,” ABC added.
