(Photo Source: twentytwowords.com)
No vaccine shots, no school
This summer, amid a measles outbreak in New York, the state passed a law saying that children who are not vaccinated cannot attend classes. The law finally went into effect this week, causing furious anti-vax parents in New York to post memes and images of sad children and show up in person to protest the governor.
The mandate, which was enacted in June, “prohibits a school from permitting any child to be admitted to such school, or to attend such school, in excess of 14 days without sufficient evidence that the child has received all age appropriate required vaccinations,” according an official publication from the New York Department of Health, Office of Children and Family Services, and the State Education Department.
The 14-day grace periods started expiring this week, so school officials have been barring students from going to class or removing them from schools, to be picked up by their parents.
According to state health officials, over 20,000 unvaccinated New York children in public schools, private schools, parochial schools, daycare centers, and prekindergarten programs claimed religious exemptions during the 2017–18 school year. The state put an end to that exemption, right after the worst measles outbreak the state saw in decades.
On Tuesday, a group of parents protested — live streaming the event — outside Lloyd Harbor Elementary School in Long Island as they waited to collect their children from their 14th and last day of school until they were vaccinated.
With no other options other than vaccinating their children, many parents are choosing to home school their children.
By: Maytinee Kramer
