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January 14, 2002

“Students Rush to Get Needed Vaccinations”

Washington Times (www.washtimes.com) (01/12/02) P. A8; Honawar,Vaishali

In Washington, D.C., a three-week campaign to immunize every child in public school was launched recently.  According to the records of the city’s health department, as many as 19,091 children have still not been immunized and risk being barred from school.  Under a proposal approved a couple of months ago by the Washington, D.C., Board of Education, students who cannot prove they have received all of their vaccinations by the 25^th of this month will not be allowed to attend classes.  Tommy Wells, the board member who introduced the resolution, says children will not be put on the street.  Instead, he says, those children who do not possess proof of having received immunizations will be assembled at the school until their parents pick them up and take them to get the required shots.  Washington, D.C., law requires all students to have received all immunizations within about a week and a half of the opening of school, but the law had not been enforced for the last nine years.

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.