Minnesota law requires all students attending school to be up to date with immunizations. Students and their parents can either show an up-to-date immunization record or obtain a legal exemption, medical or non-medical. If students fail to do so, they will be pulled out of school until they have the proper documentation.
Junior Kaylee Rice said it’s important to keep up to date with immunizations, but the law might be harsh, especially because students are missing school.
“It punishes the kid for something that their parents have to often organize or approve, and they’re not learning anything when they’re pulled out,” Rice said.
Nurse Kathryn Edstrom said it’s important to make sure students either have the proper immunizations or the exemption form because they protect us from contracting life-altering or threatening diseases.
“The importance of vaccines is that we’re protecting ourselves against these diseases,” Edstrom said. “For example, meningitis, most people that get it die within 24 hours of getting it, so it’s important we have this tool to protect ourselves against them.”
Junior Sophia Dvorak said she understands why the Minnesota law requires immunizations, but it unproportionately targets minorities.
“A lot of the time it’s minorities that don’t have the resources, so they end up being separated, and that makes the law unfair,” Dvorak said.
According to Rice, the safer the community the better, though the law has some unintended consequences it does make sure students are safer.
“The more people vaccinated, the healthier our community will be overall,” Rice said. “Though it might be more harmful in the process, it’s really good they will be getting vaccinations.”
Dvorak said the process of getting vaccinations can be expensive, there is the transportation to get there and the cost of the immunizations itself.
“It’s a priority as a school to make sure students can get the resources for the requirement, it costs money to get the shots and transportation,” Dvorak said. “The school should bring nurses in one day to get the requirement done if they can enforce making people miss school.”
Edstrom said she starts talking to families by recommending the central clinic, as it’s partnered with the school, and with parent permission she can send students over during the school day, working around parents’ schedules and money problems.
“I usually start with Central Clinic because that’s partnered with the school. I can usually send the student during the day while their parents are at work. They provide resources free with parent permission,” Edstrom said. “When the exclusion happened, students either went in that day and got their shots for the next day.”
Katy Edstrom • Dec 12, 2023 at 8:15 am
I appreciate reading this article, it made me realize more education around this topic is crucial.
I don’t want misinformation to be out there, and I misspoke when I said “most people that get it die within 24 hours.” I meant to say “most people your age who die from it, die within 24 hours.”
The research I’m referring to is from the Meningitis Research Foundation, “90% of children and teenagers who die of meningococcal meningitis die within 24 hours.”