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Flu Shots May Be Mandatory In City Preschools And Daycare Centers
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Dec 11, 2013
Modified Dec 11, 2013
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Dec 11, 2013
Modified Dec 11, 2013
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It's flu season panic time once again, and New Yorkers are back to debating whether or not flu shots are Duane Reade's way of injecting neural monitors in our bloodstreams to transform us into killer human drones. But legions of young children may not have the option to avoid mind-control this year, with the Bloomberg administration set to vote on a proposal that would make flu shots mandatory in preschools and daycare centers. Extend your supple arms for RFID tracking implants, toddlers.
The Board of Health is expected to vote on the proposal today, which would require annual flu shots for children ages six months to about 5 years old. The mandatory shots apply only to children in city-licensed preschools and daycare centers, and would be one of many required vaccinations for schoolchildren. "We already require children be vaccinated against measles, mumps, whooping cough, chicken pox and this is really adding one vaccine—one we know is important," Jay Varma, Deputy Commissioner for Disease Control for New York City, told ABC News.
Not every parent is thrilled about the proposal, though, particularly those who (erroneously, according to studies) believe there's a link between childhood vaccinations and autism. "If that goes into effect and all schoolchildren have to have these shots in order to enter school, there is a guarantee that some of the children will be harmed,” Brooklyn mother Zoey O’Toole told Politicker. “Every shot carries a risk. Every shot creates some casualties."
But studies have shown that flu symptoms can be severe in young children, who are still developing their immune systems. Richard Kanowitz, president of Families Fighting Flu, lost his 4-year-old daughter Amanda to the flu in 2004; he supports mandatory vaccinations. "Somebody gave my daughter the flu, and had she gotten the vaccine, she would probably be here," he told the Wall Street Journal. It is estimated that roughly 100 children die of the flu in the U.S. every year; the Board of Health's proposal would require children to be vaccinated by December 2014.
Tagged
board of health
daycare
flu
flu season
flu shots
preschool
Rebecca Fishbein
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