Ohio school won't accept religion as an excuse not to vaccinate children amid measles and chickenpox outbreaks
A school in Cleveland, Ohio, is no longer allowing religious beliefs to serve as an excuse for parents to not have their children vaccinated following measles outbreaks in New York and a chickenpox outbreak at a school in Asheville, N.C.
The measles outbreak is affecting an Orthodox Jewish community in New York City and has over 100 cases. Similarly, the area in which the chickenpox outbreak is occurring in North Carolina has a large number of religious vaccination exemptions.
“There’s really no good credible science for someone not to be vaccinated,” Dr. Baruch Fertel of the Cleveland Clinic told Toledo, Ohio, news station WTOL. “We see from these outbreaks that it can just spread like wildfire and cause harm.”
The Hebrew Academy of Cleveland sent a letter home to parents earlier this month stating that students were no longer exempt from vaccinations, even if the practice of vaccination went against their religious beliefs.
“We recognize that there are families that have strong views on both sides of this issue,” the letter from school leaders read. “However, this is not an area where we can accommodate any deviation from this new protocol.”
The letter goes on to state that the only exception to vaccinating a child would be if a physician certifies that vaccination is medically contraindicated — which is rare. “This is particularly important, as there are students in our school for whom it is medically unsafe to be vaccinated. Consequently, it is crucial that we ensure maximum vaccination rates across our student body.”
Depending on a student’s grade, the state of Ohio requires six vaccinations, which include polio, chickenpox and measles. The flu shot may be added in the future.
“Choosing not to vaccinate, yes it’s a personal decision, but on the other hand, it can affect other people if one becomes affected,” Dr. Fertel told the outlet, adding that some people choose not to vaccinate “because they may have read some medical literature that raised some questions,” but he assures parents that “that literature has really been discredited.”
The Hebrew Academy of Cleveland did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment.
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