Vaccinations

[Tracy Haseldine]

I have a child starting the nursery and the parents do not believe in any vaccinations for the child. Therefore the child has had no injections. What are everyone's thoughts or policies on this. This is new to me and I do respect parents wishes but I'm concerned about keeping everyone safe from harm/illnesses.

[Mouseketeer]

Hi Tracy

Welcome to the forum :-)

I can’t really help but I also have a child starting this year who hasn’t had any of the vaccinations so will be interested to read the views of others. I haven’t had a chance to speak to the parents yet so not sure if it’s that they are against it or didn’t get around to it, interestingly I saw a conversation between a few of my existing parents the other day when the news broke that the UK had lost it’s measles free status and they were definitely not happy about parents choosing not to have their chn vaccinated and putting their chn at risk, I’ve also seen some settings are refusing to take chn who haven’t had the vaccinations and then others whose take on that is discrimination...it is a tricky one :-/ 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Mouseketeer

[finleysmaid]

Maybe give your local Health visitor a call and have a chat about this? Must admit that I have just added a bit to my policy that says I have the right to refuse entry if not done. When they say they haven't had ANY do they mean none at all???? As  a setting who had a case of measles last year and the concerns it raised I think I might be insisting for the safety of the others

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by finleysmaid

[Mouseketeer]

I agree Fm, I also intend adding to my policy, with committee approval obviously ;-),  though horse & bolted comes to mind now, there is far too much sitting on the fence because of the fear of ‘discrimination’. This child hasn’t had any MMR jabs, possibly due to not being in this country at the time they would normally be vaccinated? 

[finleysmaid]

Most other countries  give more injections than the uk (we still don't inject for CP for instance) .

When any of our children are involved with social services the first thing they do is check  they have had their injections...do we therefore class this as neglect if it hasn't been done?

[Mouseketeer]

I personally think it shouldn’t be optional  unless there would be an existing medical reason against. if ALL other chn have been vaccinated wouldn’t they be protected if the non-vaccinated was to get measles or at worst have milder symptoms? 

I found this: 

Mumps, measles, rubella

In nine EU Countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia) vaccination against mumps-measles-rubella is mandatory. It is recommended in the other twenty-two Countries.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Mouseketeer

[Rebecca]

When we had a child whose parents were antivaxxers (about 10 years ago, so before the herd immunity was lost) I had them write a 'disclaimer' letter as I was worried their child might be at risk of tetanus, never mind anything else. We spend so much time scrabbling about outside cuts, grazes etc are part of our nursery life.

[finleysmaid]

having thought about this ...i have a duty of care to my staff to keep them safe under health and safety at work act.......this wouls surely include putting them at risk from disease?

[Rebecca]

26 minutes ago, finleysmaid said:

having thought about this ...i have a duty of care to my staff to keep them safe under health and safety at work act.......this wouls surely include putting them at risk from disease?

Definitely a question, I wonder what nursery insurance companies would say - are we 'knowingly putting them at risk'?

[PaulaCC19]

Hi,

I have all the same questions and have emailed my designated HV. I am still waiting for a reply. I have, of course checked through all of my current chd that are registered at my setting and all are currently up-to-date with their vaccines (thankfully ). My concerns are ongoing and I feel with advice I will pop this into my policy in view of keeping staff and children, as well as the new mothers/ parents that are expanding their families. 

[Rebecca]

Great, be interested to hear what they say

[PaulaCC19]

I will let you know! 

[magspp]

Any updates on this topic, have read all the replies and it still seems to be a very unclear area

 

[Lisa_Wise]

We also have a child just started who hasn’t had vaccinations, I’m going to ask our linked health visitor. Will post an update when I have spoken to her 😊

[Peter_Pan]

Hi all, I have looked on the PSLA website and it says:

It is important to remember that there will always be some children who will not be protected for some diseases. This could include:

• children who cannot be immunised for medical reasons
• children who are too young to be immunised
• children who missed appointments, or were too ill when they were due to be vaccinated
• children whose parents have decided against vaccination

For a few children, it might also be the case that a vaccination didn’t work for them, so even those who have been vaccinated will not always be protected.

It would be wrong for any early years provider to routinely refuse to offer a place to a child who has not been vaccinated. That said, parents should always be encouraged to have their child immunised to protect both their health and that of the other children in the setting.

Its such a grey area. I have reffered it to our EY council team (BCP) and i'll let you know what they say.

[finleysmaid]

1 hour ago, Peter_Pan said:

Hi all, I have looked on the PSLA website and it says:

It is important to remember that there will always be some children who will not be protected for some diseases. This could include:

• children who cannot be immunised for medical reasons
• children who are too young to be immunised
• children who missed appointments, or were too ill when they were due to be vaccinated
• children whose parents have decided against vaccination

For a few children, it might also be the case that a vaccination didn’t work for them, so even those who have been vaccinated will not always be protected.

It would be wrong for any early years provider to routinely refuse to offer a place to a child who has not been vaccinated. That said, parents should always be encouraged to have their child immunised to protect both their health and that of the other children in the setting.

Its such a grey area. I have reffered it to our EY council team (BCP) and i'll let you know what they say.

Personally i would say that it is up to us as practitioners to make these decisions based on the cohorts we have. If you already have children in the setting with compromised immunity i do feel their needs come before new starters. 

[PaulaCC19]

I have had information that a few settings would not refuse admission of non vaccinated new starters. I will continue with advertising the NHS posters and leaflets and have that friendly chat with parents regarding this.  Again I feel if your setting has a cohort of vulnerable children/families due to illness or immune system/immunocompromised you would have to reconsider this?   And of course if registered parents showed interest and concern over this matter you would have to consider their views?                         

[finleysmaid]

5 hours ago, PaulaCC19 said:

I have had information that a few settings would not refuse admission of non vaccinated new starters. I will continue with advertising the NHS posters and leaflets and have that friendly chat with parents regarding this.  Again I feel if your setting has a cohort of vulnerable children/families due to illness or immune system/immunocompromised you would have to reconsider this?   And of course if registered parents showed interest and concern over this matter you would have to consider their views?                         

the needs of the many out way the needs of the few ??? ...Dr Spock i presume