Remove the vaccination requirement for 5th graders overnight camp.

Request for DUSD Board to remove the vaccination requirement for 5th graders overnight science camp.

Dear DUSD Superintendent and Board members,

I am the parent of a current DUSD student. I request that you review the current COVID-19 guidelines that state, “All eligible students must be fully vaccinated”. I sincerely request that DUSD REMOVE the requirement for the 5th graders to have vaccinations for overnight science camp.

Please kindly see the proofs and reasons as following:

According to FDA.gov,

On August 23, 2021, FDA announced the first approval of a COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, and the approved vaccine is marketed as Comirnaty, for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 12 years of age and older. Any vaccines for children under 12 years old are “Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)” ONLY!

On January 31, 2022, the FDA announced the second approval of a COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Spikevax, for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older. It is also authorized for emergency use to provide: A two-dose primary series to individuals 12 years through 17 years of age.Two-dose primary series for individuals 6 months of age and older.

➡️ What's the difference between full approval and an EUA?

Science.org “It's one of scale. FDA will review much more data, covering a longer period of time, before granting full approval. "It's not a huge difference, but it is a real difference," Goodman says. The agency will analyze additional clinical trial data and consider real-world data on effectiveness and safety.”

➡️ What does “Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)” mean to a parent?

If your kids are high risk children, YES, high risk persons have been highly recommended to be vaccinated for saving your Current life without doubt.

But this is NOT the case for those who were born at full term and are currently very healthy children!

NO ONE HAS A RIGHT to force any young kids to be vaccinated an NON- FULL FDA APPROVAL vaccination!!

If you can’t take any responsibility for students’ health issues related to these non approved vaccinations in the future, you DON’T have the right to decide what you want to deliver INTO a kid's body now! NEVER EVER!!

Only kids themselves and their guardians have the right to decide their own and family lives! If something unluckily happened in 10, 20, 30 years due to having non-full approval vaccines in childhood, it won’t be something you say “I’m sorry.” can be changed or compensated for the rest of their lives!

If you can’t take responsibility for others lives, you don’t have the right to make their life decisions which may impact their entire lives in the future!

My husband and I have been fully vaccinated including booster shots. We’re not anti-vaccines people. We have always strongly recommended all adults get the vaccines to protect our community. Based on the science of the age group, we are at much higher risk to become severe cases once getting Covid-19 BUT not healthy young kids. Children are very different from adults! There is much rigorous science research supporting this! Therefore, why does the DUSD board mandate all 5th graders (10, 11 years old) to be fully vaccinated to be eligible to go to the overnight science camp in November 2022? This is UNREASONABLE and UNACCEPTABLE!!

➡️ Is there a Federal mandate for COVID-19 vaccines?

No!!

“The U.S. Supreme Court blocked the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) mandate for employees of large companies (over 100 workers) in the U.S. to have the COVID-19 vaccine or get regular COVID-19 tests. In the majority opinion, the court said that OSHA’s decision to require vaccines or tests was an overstep into the lives and health of many employees.” webmd.com

➡️ Is there a California mandate for COVID-19 Vaccines?

NO!!

“The state decides it won’t require COVID vaccines for children this fall, and a bill to mandate kids vaccines without personal belief exemptions stalls out.” calmatters.org

➡️ Why DUSD board guidelines Against the CA and Ferdeal law?

If no one can mandate teachers, staff and volunteers be vaccinated, no one should request students to have vaccines mandatorily for one time field trip and only because it’ll be overnight. I can’t see any reasonable logic in these guidelines. Kids won’t have a higher risk of getting infected or spreading viruses because of overnight trips than they’ve been at school daily for more than one year!

In fact, per DUSD guidelines effective August 16, 2022, day-time unvaccinated chaperones and volunteers may assist at school sites as long as they submit to weekly COVID testing and wear a mask while on campus. Your kids have been working together closely with unvaccinated adults already!

“Omicron has caused relatively fewer cases of severe COVID-19. Compared to prior waves of COVID-19 in the United States, the Omicron wave has had a lower proportion of cases resulting in hospitalization or death.” whitehouse.gov

This is one of the very important reasons why FDA has been slow on approving the vaccine for children, not only because of a lack of enough data and time periods but also THIS IS NOT THE FIRST PRIORITY ANYMORE!

Thus, we are expecting the DUSD Board to update related guidelines as soon as possible!

➡️ Do students still get infected Covid-19 even if they are vaccinated?

YES! A lot of people were infected Covid-19 more than once, whether vaccinated or not.

“While the vaccines that are available in the U.S. were designed to protect against the original strain of the coronavirus—and have been seen to weaken against infection over time—they continue to protect against severe illness and death.” yalemedicine.org

➡️ May unvaccinated students spread the Covid-19 virus easier than vaccinated ones?

NO! The current Covid-19 vaccines are only lower the chances from becoming severe illness but Not for not being infected with the Covid-19 virus since the virus changes too fast and Omicron variants tends to weaken more than others.

➡️ If children get Covid-19, are they tend to be asymptomatic and mild?

YES, EXACTLY. Never changed since 2020!

➡️ Then what’s the point to Force students to get NON FULL FDA APPROVAL vaccines and Banned unvaccinated kids attend overnight camps?

IT IS UNREASONABLE AND UNACCEPTABLE! The entire fifth graders need your support and help young kids voice out the issues!!

➡️ Can we respect each family’s vaccination decision meanwhile providing them the alternative way to protect their or other children if there’s concerns?

Of course we should and we actually have! DUSD still provides PCR tests for someone needed. We can definitely request those unvaccinated students to get Free PCR tests at the district office 2 days before overnight camp and even request them doing rapid home antigen tests each morning during the trip if these will make everyone feel more comfortable. If we do so, I guarantee these unvaccinated students will be the cleanest and safest persons of the entire group! Way better than those vaccinated students without frequently testing!

➡️ What’s the current DUSD guidelines impacting the 5th graders’ educational rights?

• All eligible students must be fully vaccinated and have provided a negative result of a COVID test taken no more than 48 hours prior to travel.
• Within the week following an overnight trip, all participants must take two COVID tests within three to four days of each other.

Kids and families should have the right to take their own risks for deciding how much they wanna against severe illness and death. The DUSD board mandate stating that kids are vaccinated won’t reduce the risk of preventing other students from not getting infected! Two totally different things!

Oppositely, for prevention, DUSD board is supposed to mandate that all kids keep wearing masks but they don’t do it anymore. If you can’t mandate people wearing masks, you shouldn’t mandate people having vaccinations! This is just not logical thinking!

While we always teach our children to respect everyone, Board members should consider what you will do for philosophical exemptions for kids whose parents reject vaccines for moral, personal, religious, health or other beliefs objections, such as offer a negative test alternative instead of Harshly taking away students’ learning rights and their precious memories between friends right before they are graduating from elementary school!

This is a PUBLIC school fieldtrip. We need to take care of everyone to achieve EQUALITY.

Please do the right thing! The entire Dublin community is waiting for board members showing their powerful leaderships of removing untimely vaccination guidelines to students. We hope eagerly to see updated guidelines and sincerely wish no one should be left behind in November 2022 for the 5th graders overnight camp due to their life choices of vaccines!

Thank you for your kindly understanding and wise decisions we are looking for. Hopefully to hear good news from the board and see EACH 5th graders’ excited faces for their the only one elementary school graduating trip.

A DUSD parent
September, 2022.
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Please email the DUSD Board and speak up for our precious children! Thank you for your support!

President Dan Cherrier
cherrierdan@dublinusd.org

Vice President Kristin Pelham pelhamkristin@dublinusd.org

Megan Rouse
rousemegan@dublinusd.org

Gabi Blackman
blackmangabi@dublinusd.org

William Kuo
kuowilliam@dublinusd.org

Superintendent Chris Funk
funkchris@dublinusd.org