I have to be careful to not be inflammatory here, as I am an employee of a school district who is doing this, so I will actually be asking more questions than sharing my own opinions, although I'm sure it will not be hard for most of you to guess how I feel about this.
We have all been involved in the H1N1 hubbub in the past few months whether we wanted to be or not. Recently it has become popular for schools to schedule the vaccinations of the school children on-site, at the school, with parent permission.
Looking deeper than the convenience of not having to go to the doctor's office, what do you think of this? Am I the only one around who worries about the long-term implications of the blurring of the line between education and health care? It just seems a little too Orwellian to me that we are lining up our children to be inoculated at the public schools. I think school should be school and that families still need to take their children to the doctor's office for health care issues that need more than a band aid or an ice pack. Also, by giving the vaccinations at school, are we unofficially endorsing them as a good idea? I could go on and on, but as this is on the Internet, and I am a teacher, I won't. Am I being paranoid here or does this rub anyone else the wrong way?
PS- This is also my hundredth post :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
100 - Way to go!!! I totally missed my 100. Oh, well.
As for the vaccine. I can see where you are coming from. However, with the issues that we have had out here I would love an alternative that was somewhere I frequent. Our doctor's offices don't have the shots and there will be none at school so our only option is to wait in line at health department clinics which lasts for HOURS. I do find it disturbing that parents don't have to be there for the shot, though. I think that is absurd and it shouldn't be done during school hours or with school personnel either. I think that if they want to use the building that is fine. (Some schools in MD are used for churches on Sundays even w/ separation of church and state.) So, that is my two cents.
This is my 3 cents. It seems the majority of physicians in our area did not order the vaccine so their patients have to get it somewhere, so why not the schools? The schools in MD have begun vaccinations in some counties, but only after school (there is a form that must be filled out for the Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene in MD so the parents have to be in attendance to sign the form for their children to get vaccinated).
In the US, under 18 is considered a minor and must have a parent sign the authorization form.
We participated in two flu clinics with a local city government and a large church in that community. We vacinnated about 500 in a four hour period and it went very smoothly. I know that at several schools in the county, our organization went in and vaccinated the teachers - seems smart since they are exposed to the children everyday. We are vaccinating family members now at work (and Denise's family will benefit from that when she visits at Christmas time).
The seasonal flu is still lingering out there, probably to arrive after the first of the year, and it will be around until April. Since the drug manufacturers stopped producing seasonal flu in lieu of H1N1, it will be interesting to see what problems we see from that virus.
That's more than 3 cents, I guess.
I don't like it. It's not just you.
As usual I see both sides of the issue. I got polio vaccines from school as a child because children were getting polio and dieing or being left crippled. Flu isn't as dangerous and I don't think that H1N1 has been as bad as they first thought. I DO think that parents are turning too many of their responsibilities over to schools. I think that in Maryland they (officials) thought it was the easiest way to reach their biggest target population--young children. Is the vaccine safe? How will we know without years of testing? I got the shot here at school. It took about 2 minutes out of my schedule to walk across the hall and get it. They only gave the mist to kids so it was not given to kids with asthma or even a runny nose. I think that the idea was if many of the kids got the vaccine then the flu would not be passed around so much. The county health department came and collected all of the paperwork and administered the shots. The schools sent home the information and provided space for a day. My attendence has been great for a couple of weeks now so maybe it worked. But I'm also with you about not wanting the government involved in my health care.
I mainly have a problem with the fact that it was done at school during school hours. I get it if they want to use the school as a facility, but I don't think it should be done durning school or with a lot of help from school personnel.
Karen! I violently agree with you! hehe. ;) I feel strongly that these lines should not be blurred. I guess I see it as similar to the separation of church and state.
I need to call you soon, because I have many questions about vaccines. I have not made up my mind yet, so I'm trying to gather as much info. as possible. Your blogs have been very helpful, thank you. Does anyone else worry about Thimerasol in the H1N1 vaccine? I need to learn more about it, but it does give me pause.
PS- 100th post, you are awesome!
I worry about thimerasol in anything. You are smart to read up on it.
Post a Comment