October 20, 2022- Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) unanimously passed the addition of COVID-19 vaccination to the childhood schedule. What does this mean? This means that the CDC is recommending the COVID-19 vaccination for all children 6 months and older per the childhood immunization schedule. The CDC is the reigning authority on vaccination and childhood immunizations in the United States and the schedule they release is considered “standard of care.” Typically, when the CDC makes changes to the schedule, states follow the recommendations and physician’s offices begin using the new “standard of care.” You may begin to see these vaccines offered at routine visits and even given at the same time as “routine” vaccinations without much notice by some providers. This does NOT mean it has been added to the vaccinations “required” for those who do not use a religious exemption in Indiana. More on this below. The addition to the childhood schedule permanently removes manufacturer liability for injuries incurred as the result of vaccination. All vaccinations on the childhood immunization schedule are exempt from liability. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. Parents call the shots, and you deserve to know what is on that tray! Just because a vaccine is recommended by the CDC or even “required” for school doesn’t mean that there is no other option. Indiana students have the right to a religious exemption. Read more on exemptions here. Some parents accept some vaccinations and decline others. If your child receives any vaccinations, you should be getting informed consent BEFORE the vaccines are drawn up or administered. Most offices don’t do this. Informed consent consists of the vaccination name, illness it is to prevent, risks of the illness, risks of the vaccination, benefits of the vaccination, and alternatives to the vaccination. In addition to informed consent, you should be receiving the “Vaccine Information Statement” from the CDC PRIOR to the vaccination. This is a legal requirement. If your child is scheduled for a well visit, address which vaccinations your child is scheduled for as well as any concerns before the doctor or nurse leaves the room to get vaccines. Once the nurse returns, ask specifically for the syringes to be reviewed by name prior to administering. This second review gives you the opportunity to verify what your child is getting and that you consent to the vaccination. You have the right to ask questions, delay, or decline any vaccination even if it is drawn up. Unfortunately, many Hoosiers are not aware that they have the right to decline any medical treatment or procedure. We need to help educate our friends and neighbors to seek out informed consent and a risk benefit analysis. Check out our resources here. Tell parents to be mindful and ASK what vaccines are due before the nurse administers or even draws them up. Encourage them to discuss the risks and benefits of both natural infection and vaccination for their child for each vaccination. Be informed on the issue. Each state governs their own requirements for schools. During the ACIP meeting, participants of the meeting were quick to point out that ACIP and the CDC are not in control of the vaccination requirements for schools. Those familiar with the process know that the state health officials and legislatures typically follow the advice of ACIP & the CDC. The requirement for school children has not been determined by Indiana. Local journalist Margaret Menge recently wrote that the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) said they would not be making a requirement for Indiana Students in an email response. While we appreciate that a response was sent to Ms. Menge, the state has not addressed this in an official capacity on their website or on social media. The state has not had a great track record protecting its citizens against mandatory covid vaccinations. Much like doctors’ offices it is typical to follow the “standard of care” set forth by the CDC. It is important to let the health department know Hoosiers do not want this mandated for school children who haven’t claimed a religious exemption. It is also important to note that in the event that the state does require the covid vaccine for school children, public school children have a right to religious exemption for all vaccines including Covid-19. Indiana state code 20-34-4-2 requires vaccination of school children, who do not claim a religious exemption, to be vaccinated for diphtheria; pertussis (whooping cough); tetanus; measles; rubella; poliomyelitis; mumps; varicella; hepatitis A; hepatitis B; and meningitis. Indiana Code 20-34-3-2 provides religious exemptions for vaccinations. For a student to claim a religious exemption a parent or guardian must submit a written statement of religious objection. Nothing more is required by law. Learn more about your right to a religious exemption here. In light of Medical information warranting a change in the name of public health the IDOH may expand or modify the list of required vaccinations for students who do not claim a religious exemption. Basically, when the CDC and ACIP change the schedule, so can the IDOH. If a spike of cases occurs, they could change the requirements. By law the IDOH is required to submit a 2 year calendar each year on November 30th. In the case of an emergency the deadline for reporting does not apply. According to this law the requirements may be changed at any time. That means that even though the State Department of Health is not currently planning to require it for school children, it doesn’t mean that they can’t or won’t change their mind. Acting quickly to work against the COVID-19 vaccination being added to the immunizations required for those who do not use a religious exemption is key! Hoosiers need to step up and help provide information for our unsuspecting neighbors and family members. Conversations don’t have to be difficult. Our call to action. Make calls to the State Board of Health, State Legislators, and County Commissioners. You might be wondering why the county commissioners are included. We have talked about the Governor’s Public Health Commission for the past several months and how the state is wanting to “centralize” or “regionalize” Indiana’s public health agencies. Is it a good idea to hand over power to the CDC? Orders will be passed from the CDC to the state and the counties will be forced to comply. This issue alone deserves its own call to action, but with the pressing news about ACIP adding the COVID vaccine to the childhood schedule we are combining these. The Governor’s Public Health Commission met over the course of several months making recommendations with the goal to develop "regionalized, equitable, and sustainable public health.” Want more info? Need talking points? Click here. These recommendations will be reviewed by the governor and then addressed in the 2023 legislative session. A plan to coerce and extort... The June 2022 meeting of the Public Health Commission revealed the frightening plan to eliminate local control and the ability for the counties to opt out of mandates dictated by the state or CDC. The meeting is nearly 2 hours long but we have made very telling videos summarizing their plans that can be seen on our website. Ready to take action?!? Read below or text to get the script. -- 260-286-0988 the word: ACIP **When texting H4ML do not send more than one command at a time. Only use the specified letters or numbers. Do not use any punctuation or emoji. If you do not follow these instructions you may not receive the requested information, or it may be delayed. You may also want to save our number so you can find us in the future and don’t mistake us for spam. ** Indiana Department of Health 317-233-1325 Tell them: “ACIP added covid vaccines to the childhood schedule & Hoosiers object! Do not add COVID 19 vaccinations to the required schedule. Your State Rep & State Senator. Don't know who they are? TEXT 260-286-0988 the word: FIND Tell them: “ACIP added the Covid vaccines to the childhood schedule & Hoosiers object, we notified the IDOH! Hoosiers also have concerns over the impact of the Governor’s Public Health Commission on the local ability to control public Health directives. We expect counties to maintain autonomy & your votes to reflect that in 2023.” County Commissioners. Get their numbers text 260-286-0988 the name of your county, like: Allen County or St Joseph County Tell them: “Hoosiers have concerns over the impact of the Gov’s Public Health Commission on county autonomy. Counties are being offered funding in return for compliance with regionalization of public health. We elected elected you to ensure local accountability.” If they have questions direct them to our website h4ml.org/PublicHealthVideos You can download educational guides with more talking points here. INFORM OTHERS When we heard that ACIP would be voting we knew the Covid vaccine would be added to the childhood schedule.
You might be wondering why we asked you to comment if we knew it was going to pass. The answer is simple, we are still accountable for our actions. If at any point we sit by and let these things happen “to us,” we become VICTIMS. We are not victims. We know the risk, so we do things differently and we must fight for those who don’t know any different than to follow based on trust alone. At this point, one of the most important things for us to do is share this information with others. We must give them the opportunity to have informed consent. You can download and print our Informed Consent Guide and share it with friends and family. Need to start the conversation first? Start by asking a basic question. “Did you know ACIP added the COVID vaccine to the childhood vaccine schedule?” Acknowledge their answer, and continue the conversation as it feels natural. Remember, our goal is not to change anyone's mind but to aid them in obtaining informed consent. You are a powerful agent of change in Medical Liberty. Thank you for contributing to the mission. In Liberty, Ashley Grogg MSN-RN P.S. We are looking for volunteers! You can help further Medical Liberty. Check out the options or suggest one of your own. We will have a meeting to discuss on Thursday November 3rd 7pm EST via ZOOM P.S.S. Are you a monthly donor? If so you have made some AMAZING contributions. Not only are you helping here locally, but you are supporting national education on VAERS that will be life altering. VAERS project was endorsed by America's Front Line Doctors, Children's Health Defense, National Health Freedom Action, National Health Freedom Coalition, The Robert Scott Bell Show, The Truth About Cancer, Weston A. Price Foundation and SEVERAL other groups at the 2022 National Health Freedom Congress. Thank you for your GENEROUS contributions to Medical Liberty. If you haven't started donating monthly but want to please do so now. Your monthly donation of $10, $25, $50, or even $100 will support this and other efforts to secure Medical Liberty.
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![]() This week parents across the state started receiving letters like the one to the right from the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) addressed to “The Parents” of their soon to be kindergartners. In short, the form discusses how protecting Hoosier children from vaccine preventable diseases is of highest importance of public health and to ensure this measure is carried out certain vaccinations are required* for the child to begin Kindergarten in the fall. Utilizing a religious exemption nullifies the required vaccines. If you have questions about the available exemptions, please check out our blog post HERE. I have received a few concerned phone calls and text messages about the meaning of these letters. Certainly, a letter like this would frighten Hoosiers who have declined one or more of the vaccines listed on the form. To clarify, all this letter means is that ISDH is reminding you to take your child in for the remainder of the vaccinations required* for school. Simple as that. Many might wonder what steps to take next. Some families may opt to call their provider to double check vaccination status, verifying what their child may need, and work with the provider accordingly. Alternatively, some families may object to the missing vaccinations and not want to pursue scheduling them. For the later of you, you will just need to submit an exemption form to the school which is found in the blog post mentioned above. Parents may also be concerned about how the ISDH was able to obtain the individual records. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to delve a little further into “CHIRP” or the Children & Hoosiers Immunization Registry Program. This program is run by the state board of health and allows physicians and other health care providers to enter the immunization records of patients. Previously, I had believed that this was something an individual must agree to, however in reviewing the exclusion form that is not correct. Providers and other authorized users, like school nurses, may submit immunization records without consent of the individual, parent, or guardian. You can read more on CHIRP HERE or HERE. While CHIRP may be helpful for tracking immunizations across multiple providers some may feel it is a violation of privacy. It IS possible to remove an individual from the registry. I have found two different forms to do so. The first was at the CHIRP homepage, if you scroll down you will see “File downloads” on the right hand side. About half way down you will see “User Removal Form.” You can print the form out and submit as directed on the form. The second and perhaps more comprehensive option is on the ISDH website. You will find the same form as above in the first section titled “Forms and Reference Guides for Providers.” In the next section “Forms for Parents and Patients” you will find a form titled “Immunization Registry Data Exclusion Request.” For a government form, this is pretty easy to follow. Fill out the information at the top and then select the exemption type in section B. Most likely you will want to complete both types. You may wish to fill out the form and make copies. Keep one copy for yourself, submit another to the address on the form, and then to any additional to providers. Prior to removing an individual from the registry I strongly recommend collecting all data, printing it off, and storing it in a secure location. You never know if you will need this information in the future and it is better to be safe than sorry. Please see section D of the Immunization Registry Data Exclusion Request for details. Once removed from the registry the ISDH and the public-school systems will not have access to records and you will no longer receive letters as mentioned above. I hope this has answered all your questions about the letter and what your options are. Please feel free to message us with any further questions or concerns at contact@hoosiersformedicalliberty.com |
AuthorAshley Grogg RN-MSN sharing insights, tips, and updates on Medical Liberty throughout the Hoosier state. Archives
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