School Expels 8-Year-Old Daughter Whose Mother Refused to Give Her Vaccine
By Josh Gardner | MailOnline
A showdown over vaccinations has erupted in a Long Island town after the mother of an 8-year-old was told by her doctor that a new school district rule requires children to get a booster shot at too young an age.
Ceili McNicholas was expelled from Long Island’s Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School last week after her mother Jamie refused to let her receive the Tdap booster, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.
McNicholas said her daughter’s doctor wouldn’t administer the shot, which is a new requirement of the Miller Place Union Free School District, because it’s recommended only for children over 10 years old.
And FDA guidelines back the doctor up.
‘If we give that Tdap vaccination between 7 and 10, we are using it off label,’ Long island pediatrician Dr. Mary Renna told CBS New York. ‘So if we can’t use it, then we are the ones going to be held liable.’
- Third grader Ceili McNicholas was kicked out of her Long Island school when her mother refused to give her Tdap booster
- Her mother Jamie said her daughter’s doctor informed them that the tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis booster is only for kids over 10
- However, the school district has new regulations that require the booster despite FDA guidelines that say 8 is too young