8-Year-Old Expelled From School When Mom Wouldn’t Approve Booster Shot
[su_right_ad]The mother believes her 8-year-old is too young to receive the shot, and so the New York state school refused to let her attend class.
Jamie McNicholas says her 8-year-old daughter Ceili was expelled on Monday from Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School, part of the Miller Place Union Free School District, NBC 4 New York reported.
The school told McNicholas that her daughter needed to get a Tdap booster shot, a state-mandated vaccine for whooping cough that also prevents tetanus and diphtheria, or she would not be allowed to return.
The mother refused to do so, saying her doctor told her the shot wasn’t safe for children younger than 10.
According to the FDA website, the Tdap booster shot is recommended only for children older than 10. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson, however, said the opposite.
“I believe in vaccinations, and that’s not the issue,” McNicholas said. “The issue is an age-appropriate vaccination.”
“If we give that T-Dap vaccination between 7 and 10, we are using it off label. And it’s not licensed for usage. So if we can’t use it, then we are the ones going to be held liable,” Long Island Pediatrician, Dr. Mary Renna, told CBS New York.[su_csky_ad]
Hass November 19th, 2014 at 1:08 pm
This is wrong. She did the right thing by her child.
Bunya November 19th, 2014 at 1:33 pm
On the other hand, whooping cough is very contagious.
FrankenPC . November 19th, 2014 at 2:05 pm
It’s a case where both are right. What do we do?
tracey marie November 19th, 2014 at 2:44 pm
make sure the older kids and the babies are vaccinated so they may not start an epidemic. This is a difficult situation, but the doctors are looking at liability not science
starskeptic November 19th, 2014 at 2:46 pm
This is stupid – this is a booster – presumably, the child has already been vaccinated more than once for whooping cough; the booster can wait until the FDA approved age.
Kick Frenzy November 19th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
They’re kind of doing the right thing.
By “letter of the law”… or part of it anyway.
Both CDC and FDA sites say you should give the Tdap booster around 10 – 12 years old.
However, the CDC site also states that a booster should be given to children between 7 – 10 if they haven’t been fully immunized against pertussis.
They also have a schedule calendar that shows “11 – 12” as prime for Tdap, but “7 – 10” and “13 – 18” as catch-up periods.
They also state that there is no need to wait between a Td shot and a Tdap shot.
It also appears that whooping cough is on the rise in New York state.
So that could be what has made the school strict about the policy.
I’d probably not put blame on either side of this story though.
tracey marie November 19th, 2014 at 5:04 pm
I looked this up on vaccine.gov
2-4-6 months
15-18 months
4-6 years
this is the schedule to receive the shots and boosters. Maybe this women did not get her child the final booster shot. They are partial, not full shots and are made to develop antibodies.