Parents: Health waivers also denied
Protest blunted by repairs at state Education building
Some parents who lost religious exemptions to New York state’s vaccine requirements for their school- age children have sought waivers on medical grounds. But they said that hasn’t worked very well, as schools in many cases are turning down such exemptions.
That was the message from some of the 100 parents and students who traveled from around the state to Albany on Monday to once again protest the law before the state Board of Regents, even though board members have said the law came from the Legislature, not them.
Some of the protesters were also at the Regents’ September meeting. On
Monday, though, they couldn’t get into the room with officials because the state Education Department building was closed off, with steel pedestrian barriers blocking the entrance and a plywood sheet in the main door. Education Department officials said the entrance was under repair and members of the public were told they could watch the meeting on a webcast in the building’s auditorium.
Most of the protesters went across the street to the state Capitol. And even though it was a school day, many had their children in tow, explaining how schools have said “no” to their request for vaccine exemptions on medical grounds — after the state banned religious exemptions this year in response to nationwide measles outbreaks.
“They did not accept our medical exemption” said Sara
Keller, referring to her 9- yearold daughter who wasn’t allowed to attend Genet Elementary School in East Greenbush after the school nurse and then medical director denied their exemption request.
Keller said her daughter has MTFHR, a genetic mutation that she said makes her more sensitive to metals, including those found in vaccines. Keller said the school district physician told her that the mutation wasn’t on the list of reasons a youngster should be exempted from vaccine requirements.
Another parent had a similar story.
“The school physician denied it,” Alelyse Young said about a vaccine medical exemption for her son, a 10th- grader who she said should be entering his senior year at Coxsackie- Athens High School. He has a pediatric autoimmune disorder, which should preclude vaccines, she said. Her child had also previously been exempt on religious
grounds.
While not mentioning individuals, East Greenbush school district spokesman Mark Adam said they were following state law with the 24 students who have sought exemptions there. He said some were found to have valid reasons for exemptions, while others have since gotten their vaccines and some have opted for home schooling.
“Our school nurses and administrators have worked closely with those families to make them aware of the new requirements and what they would need to do to meet them for the new school year,” Adams added in an email. East Greenbush serves about 4,100 students.
The district has also consulted with the Rensselaer County Health Department and a geneticist at Albany Medical Center Hospital to evaluate some of the requests.
The vaccine battle started to rev up last year when a series of measles outbreaks began. In
New York, the disease has spread mostly in ultra- Orthodox Jewish enclaves in Brooklyn and Rockland County, where some parents avoid vaccinating their children. That prompted lawmakers to ban religious exemptions from state requirements that students be vaccinated against childhood diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella.
Lawmakers said the religious exemptions were given out too easily and the lack of vaccinations was posing a public health threat.
Moreover, the idea that vaccines cause autism, which has been believed by some opponents, has been discredited by numerous follow- up studies over the last two decades.
The federal Centers for Disease Control also recommends the standard vaccines for most people.
With the new requirement in law, parents like Keller and Young said they will home school their children, while pinning some of their hopes on the lawsuits that are still in progress against the new law. Some of those legal efforts have already failed, but there are continuing legal challenges.
Additionally, the state Education Department has received 13 formal appeals or requests to overturn local school decisions regarding vaccines. Some also are contesting the local decisions to deny medical exemptions.
James Mermigis, a Long Island lawyer who has filed 11 suits against the loss of religious exemptions, estimated that as many as 18,000 students statewide could be out of school, either home schooling or awaiting a resolution.
He is seeking injunctions to halt the law from being enforced, at least temporarily. “Send the kids back to school until these issues are resolved,” Mermigis said.