My daughter is 6 years old and I've made the concious decision to stop vaccinating her from here on out. My reason for doing this is because she does have complex motor tics that seem to be exacerbated after the shots and because whenever she gets shots she has a horrible reaction to them, (fevers of 105 and projectile vomiting).
Now I am wondering what do I do in regards to school next fall and her shot record isn't up to date? She goes to public school in Ca. Thank you!
I Googled it. Here is a page that should help you from the California Department of Public Health. It has other links and stuff.
we just moved from CA and I do not vax. You just print out the waiver and sign it and give it to the school. It's super easy there and it is not required to vax in CA
Here, you just print out a waiver, sign it, and give it to the school nurse (I vax my kids, but my daughter's best friend's Mom chooses not to for similar reasons as you, and this is what she does).
You are not required to have any vaccinations for school in California. School officials might tell you differently, so you might need to speak firmly. I am a teacher at a public high school and we had a big deal at the beginning of the last school year about a specific vaccine (I don't remember which one). The schools stance was that if students were not vaccinated by a specific deadline, they would not be allowed at school. But nobody ever mentioned that parents could also sign a waiver. You can ask for the waiver if it is not provided for you. Can you imagine if the government actually required that you take a shot of a substance into your body. I hope people are not subdued enough to allow that if it came down to it.
You don't need to call the school. When you give them the paperwork packet, YOU just sign the waiver. It should be on the blue card they give you. We have never vaccinated and when our son went to K, they never got an immunization record from us, obviously. They asked my husband for it. His response was, "Whatever my wife gave you is what you are getting."
By California law, every front desk of every school MUST have the waiver available. The problem is many of the school officials are ignorant and will fight the parents. I know a bunch of school employees, including guidance counselors who had no idea there was even a waiver. The schools get increased federal funding for increased vaccination percentages.
Oddly enough, our son went to a largely Hispanic school, so they gave us the packet of paperwork in Spanish. The waiver on the back was missing. I was appalled, not giving Spanish speaking people the same information. I confronted the school and they simply said, "Oh, it must have not been copied by mistake." I wanted to look at all of their packets. It could have been a simp mistake, but I know plenty of Mexicans coming in to the country and they are told they HAVE to have the HPV vaccine, and the mention of a waiver never happens. INFORMED CONSENT, not FEAR should be what's happening.
I am 37 and never vaccinated after my mom and dad had major reactions, so my parents decided against it. I went to public and private schools, as well as multiple colleges and have 3 degrees. It's never been an issue. When one school pushed the issue, my mom said, "Fine, I all get her vaccinated and I want you to sign this stating that you take PERSONAL responsibility for any reactions, since you are the one pushing me to do this." Of course, the woman never signed it and the "problem" went away.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
In California you should have all three waivers available I believe. Medical needs to be signed by a doctor because of medical reactions to the shots, religious beliefs, and I think you all have to get a doctors signature now for the philosophical exemption as well, like we do in Washington. Or they're trying to do that. Just google California vaccine exemptions, should take you to your department of health website for ca and the forms needed. If philosophical only needs your signature, great! Or check nvic.org for the list of exemptions in your state.
I have 2 unvaccinated girls in CA public schools, signing the waiver was all that I needed to do. They are the healthiest in their class and I feel so confident with my choice not to vaccinate. Good luck!
My kid's go to a Charter school in CA and a large percentage of parents have made the choice not to vaccinate. At the office, and I believe it was in our registration package, was a waiver form to opt out of vaccinating. I don't know how it will be in Palm Desert, but here in San Diego the office staff doesn't even blink when they receive the signed waiver, or inquiries about the waiver.
Good luck and welcome to to the school aged times!!
There is a waiver/exemption form you sign. That way if there is an outbreak of something, they let you know so you can decide to take your child out of school or not. Either your doctor or the school has the form and I think it's available on line as well.
I decided to do this when my kids were 7 and 4 and I met my now husband. His daughter had a severe reaction which scared me so I haven't vaccinated since.
I'm in AZ and the school doesn't advertise it here, and in fact, they word their letters like its "mandatory", but there is a waiver you can sign. We have to have a medical reason (form signed by doctor) or "religous" reason (form signed only by parent). So just sign the waiver. Oh, and expect a big lecture from the school nurse, that's what I got! LOL! =)
I can't imagine how horrible this is for her. She must have had some really bad experiences. I think you should call the school admin offices tomorrow and talk to them. It's almost like every school system has different rules they follow. They are the only ones who can really answer your question.
I understand your reasoning for not giving your daughter vaccination when she has reactions like that. BUT, she is not required to have another set of shots until she is 11. (from what I was told about my daughter who is 5)
Just a reminder to all the moms out there who don't want to vaccinate their children, the purpose of vaccinations is to eliminate those diseases that killed hundred of thousands of people in the past. If everyone decided not to vaccinate, don't you think these diseases would come back?
I laugh at the moms who say, "oh my children are the healthiest kids I know".
Vaccinations don't keep you "healthy", they prevent you from getting life threatening diseases. Ignorant people..........
Sorry Daisymama, didn't mean to get off the subject. A waiver is all you need to sign.
