In Prince George's County Maryland parents of over 2,000 students are being told they must bring their children to court this Saturday to receive the vaccination shots or else face jail time or criminal charges.
What the Washington Post fails to mention, and what MSM reporters skim over is that there is no law that requires a child to receive any immunization shot. Many parents who are being told that this is required by law have not been informed that there is a waiver available for all children.
Is this what we have come to expect from our media? All the major reporting on this issue has done nothing to accurately report this story and only perpetrated the myth that vaccinations are required by law. Completely shameful.
Yesterday State's Attorney Glenn Ivey appeared on a radio show stating that indeed there is no law requiring the Chicken Pox and Hepatitis B vaccines and also admitted to a nation-wide audience they he himself had chosen to waive his own children from receiving the Hep B shot after researching it.
Maybe the State's Attorney should be speaking to these parents on Saturday about why he chose not to vaccinate his own children and educate the families on the potential dangers of this shot rather than using coercion and strong arm tactics.
What has happened that brought it to the point of having the courts involved? Well, the schools will not allow students to attend if they do not receive the shot or file a waiver form, so after weeks of not attending the parents become liable in truancy charges. In reality, the school is responsible for creating the truancy in the first place for not allowing students to attend.
Many people are still uninformed and believe that an un-immunized child is a threat and danger such as the gentleman interviewed in this broadcast. Actually this is completely false and another scare tactic. The truth is, if the immunizations are indeed working as they should, all children receiving the shots should have nothing to worry about. Only the children who have not been vaccinated would be at risk.
However the subject of risk should also include the possible side effects of these shots as the PG Co. State's Attorney seems to be quite aware of.
The National Vaccine Information Center:
Q. TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL BELKIN BEFORE THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IMMUNIZATION PRACTICES -- CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (February 17, 1999) -- Atlanta Georgia
My name is Michael Belkin. I am a father, businessman, former quantitative strategist at Salomon Brothers, and Director of the Hepatitis B Vaccine Project of the National Vaccine Information Center(NVIC).
The NVIC has studied Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act covering the last nine years on hepatitis B vaccine adverse events -- and in 1996 there were more than three times as many reported serious adverse reactions as reported cases of the disease in the 0 to 14 age group. Of the total 2,424 adverse event reports made between 1990 and October 1998 in children under age 14 who only received hepatitis B vaccine, there were 1,209 serious events and 73 deaths. Thus, one half of the reports for children under age 14 who received only hepatitis B vaccine were for serious events that required an emergency room visit, hospitalization, or caused life-threatening health problems or permanent disabilities.
As a UC Berkeley graduate and advisor to some of the largest financial institutions in the world, I am qualified to analyze and make conclusions about statistics. Based on that experience, I am astonished that the scientists on this Committee would disregard or cover up data showing the number and severity of adverse reactions to this vaccine. Science is observing and learning from what is observed. The assertions of the CDC that the many reported adverse reactions to this vaccine do not exist or are a coincidence violates the basic principle of science, which is rooted in the observation and analysis of data.
Whether or not you are "for" or "against" vaccinations are really moot - this is a civil rights issue.
The big question remains if the schools and health department, with their multiple letters, and even door-to-door campaign have been informing people of the waiver option.
And this Saturday, when thousands are summoned to court to receive their shots, where health care workers will be present with vaccination shots, will the parents also be presented with the option not to vaccinate and informed of their protected right under the law?