Minnesota School Cancels Vaccination Clinic After Group Opposition At Board of Education Meeting

Members of the group started by saying that the school was for education, not vaccination. They said the vaccines were not fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration and these vaccines endanger the lives of children.

They also stated that more than 99% of children infected with COVID do not become seriously ill. They said the decision to vaccinate the child should be made by the parents along with the child’s doctor and it is not appropriate to open a shot clinic on the school grounds.

Greg Parks wasn’t thinking of providing vaccinations at school, but was asked to work with CHI St. Joseph Community Health, an institution that has worked with schools on safe school planning during a pandemic. Said that. ..

He said participation in the Shot Clinic was never promoted by the school and it was entirely up to the parents to decide whether or not to attend.

Parks also pointed out that other health organizations came to school during the year to provide vision and hearing screening, and preventive dental care.

The park concludes the debate by saying that vaccinations are not given at school.

“I work with public health to find another place,” he said.

Parks said 18 students had registered for the vaccine at school after the meeting.

“We share information with parents who sign up when a new location is identified, and they are responsible for taking their children to the site,” he said.

Marley Morrison, director of CHI St. Joseph Community Health, said the idea of ​​providing vaccines at school came from the state.

“We work under the guidance of the Minnesota Department of Health because we are a public health agency in Hubbard County,” she said. “We have a recent emergency permit from the FDA for a Pfizer vaccine for children over the age of 12, and we know that the school is the source, so we would like to provide the vaccine to qualified people. This is the state. It’s a whole strategy.

“In our county, not everyone lives near a vaccination center, so people are serious about getting the vaccine to a convenient location. The vaccine is free and the school is me. We don’t receive money to come to the scene. In this way, children don’t have to be absent from school and parents don’t have to be absent from work to bring their children. “

According to Morrison, Community Health has been providing pediatric and flu vaccines in schools for many years. Last week, a vaccination clinic for students over the age of 12 was held at the Laport School in Hubbard County.

“We kept it in their building with the help of the school,” she said. “Obviously, all vaccines are given with parental consent and no one is obliged to receive the vaccine. This is a way to provide access to the vaccine to those who want it. We want to make it available wherever it is available and provide accurate information so that people can make informed decisions.

“In a letter to our parents, we made it very clear that we didn’t need to get this vaccine, and we wanted the school to send it with the letter and make it available at each clinic. I sent you a fact sheet about the vaccine. ”

Morrison said “vaccine repellent” is something he hopes to work on in the future. She said the Pfizer vaccine for children over the age of 12 was approved by the FDA under an emergency use authorization.

COVID-19 affected adults primarily, but Morrison said some children became seriously ill and some died. Children can also spread the disease to others.

“Vaccines are for public health,” she said. “The more people we have been vaccinated in our school or community, the safer our community will be.”