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HomeNews"You Are Crushing My Dreams" Some Parents Say Vaccine Mandates Are Hurting...

“You Are Crushing My Dreams” Some Parents Say Vaccine Mandates Are Hurting Kids

KAWARTHA LAKES-Six-year-old Jimmy loves hockey. He takes his stick to school, playing at recess, on weekends and every spare moment. His favorite team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jimmy’s second favorite thing is swimming. His family lives near the lake and he swims while wearing a lifejacket all summer long.

But his mom, a local resident, says because of vaccine mandates, Jimmy cannot join a hockey team or take swimming lessons because she is unable to be vaccinated.

“I suffered cardiac arrest after a vaccine as a baby and almost died.” Susan told Kawartha 411 News. “My doctor wrote a note on his prescription pad in 1998 advising that I was not to be vaccinated due to cardiac arrest. That note has been accepted by schools and society for 25 years. Until this year. Now it’s get vaccinated or you are banned from society with no regard to your personal level of danger.”

Kawartha 411 has verified the validity of the note. We have changed the names of those involved to protect their privacy and prevent stigmatization.

Susan says the doctor has since died and her current doctor says she is unable to write an exemption because she could lose her medical license.

“So am I to risk death or disability to be able to live in society and take my son to hockey or swimming lessons? My son recently lost his father and having sports also taken away has impacted his mental health” said Susan, who is a single mom.

Susan and little Jimmy aren’t alone. A group called “Families For Choice” says Canadian children are mentally and emotionally suffering due to the imposition of vaccine mandates.

“We are families, vaccinated and unvaccinated against COVID-19, united in our mission to safeguard the rights of families to choose whether and when to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. We profoundly believe that each family’s choice should not affect its children’s ability to access services, attend school or participate in extracurricular activities or organized sports.”

The group is sharing stories of children impacted. The kids range from 12 to 17 years old.

Here is what some of them had to say:

“If for just a day I could hang out with my friends at restaurants and go to the mall, go swimming with my family or maybe Flying Squirrel, that would be amazing.” Lily Gordon: Girl Age 12

I’m thinking about this every night when I go to bed and every morning when I wake up.
Ivan Keldrov: Boy Age 16

“It’s been a massive source of stress and anxiety for me.
I just want to be a normal teenager.”
Rachel Hoflin: Girl Age 17

You are crushing my dreams. I cry a lot.” 
 Z.H: Boy Age 13

“I am terrified of people finding out that I am not vaccinated.” –
 D.V: Girl Age 13

Please let us be kids.
 A.H: Girl Age 15

COVID-19 vaccination status should never be a basis upon which to exclude or segregate children.” says the group.

The Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization agrees. The group recently made recommendations for the vaccination of kids 5-11years and said parents should be able to make this decision for their kids.

“Given the short-term uncertainties surrounding pediatric vaccination at this time, children and their parents or guardians should be supported and respected in their decisions regarding COVID-19 vaccinations for the child, whatever decisions they make, and should not be stigmatised for accepting, or not accepting, the vaccination offer.” said NACI.

The trial size for the vaccine for those aged 5-11 was only about 2600 kids, and the NACI report explains that: “Any uncommon, rare, or very rare [side effect] that occurs at the frequency less often than 1 in 1,000 would not be detected with this trial size.”

Ontario health officials now recommend against young males taking Moderna due to a myocarditis rate that was 1 in 5,000, the Pfizer rate isn’t much better.

The province of Ontario has not made vaccines mandatory for kids to attend school but many local sports organizations and facilities have announced proof of vaccination is required for anyone 12 and over to participate or attend. The province has made proof of vaccination mandatory for movie theatres, restaurants, gyms and more.

The provincial government announced there are only two allowable medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals who can prove they are allergic to one of the ingredients in the COVID-19 vaccine and those who have had a”serious” reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the Ontario government even people who have suffered from myocarditis (heart inflammation), blood clots, anaphylaxis, or a serious adverse event that results in hospitalization, persistent or significant disability/incapacity do not qualify for an exemption unless a “relevant specialist has determined that the individual is unable to receive any COVID-19 vaccine”. Read more here:https://health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/publichealth/coronavirus/docs/vaccine/medical_exemptions_to_vaccination.pdf

“I think people really need to put themselves in my shoes. If you almost died after an injection would you really want to risk it again? I don’t think so.” said Susan.

Health officials say the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

Families For Choice is urging all governments, agencies and organizations to repeal any current mandates that apply to children ages 12-17 and not consider them for younger kids.

Find out more about Families For Choice here:https://familiesforchoice.ca/from-the-children

 

 

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Pamela Vanmeer
Pamela Vanmeerhttps://www.kawartha411.ca/
Pamela VanMeer is a two time winner of the prestigious Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Award. Her investigative reports on abuse in Long Term Care Homes garnered international attention for the issue and won the Ron Laidlaw Award. She is a former reporter and anchor at CHEX News, now Global Peterborough and helped launch the New CHEX Daily, a daily half hour talk show. While at CHCH News in Hamilton she covered some of the biggest news stories of the day.

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