It has come to our attention that you intend to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for children to attend public school, grades Kindergarten to 12, by February 1, 2022.  You will give the NY State Department of Health the ability to enforce these vaccinations via emergency powers.  This change to Title 10 of Public Health Law could happen without any bill by the assembly or senate passing (such as bill A8378).

We do not support this change to Public Health Law and demand that parental choice trump any attempts for the NY State government to infringe on our rights as parents to make medical decisions for our children.  This disease is rarely fatal to children.  Furthermore, this particular vaccine has not had the same research as past mandated vaccines for public school.  It is NOT FDA approved for children 5-11 as it has been slated only for emergency use authorization.

There is no scientific or medical data that supports a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination on children, especially to attend public school.  In fact, there are mounds of evidence proving the dangers of this particular vaccination on our young citizens.  In a simple search on https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html limiting the search to Pfizer/BioNTech and individuals ages 6-17 years, the results produced 84,715 rows of results!  This vaccine has only been available for the requested age group over the course of a few months, but the results of reported adverse effects are over 80,000!  That number is astounding and alone is enough to warrant any sort of “vaccine hesitancy” a parent may have.

As far as hospital overload, an article found on NPR provides information on hospital overload (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/09/944379919/new-data-reveal-which-hospitals-are-dangerously-full-is-yours The map shows a percentage of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.  The highest percentage for New York is found in Livingston County at 53%.  Even at its highest, only a little over half of the hospital is dedicated to treat COVID-19 cases.  The average hospital capacity percentage out of the 58 New York counties shown is 13.41%.  Furthermore, it is imperative to note that the maximum capacity for hospitals has dramatically decreased due to government mandates that have forced healthcare workers from their positions.  Logically, when there are less doctors and nurses to care for the people, the capacity number goes down.  Therefore, if our hospitals were fully staffed, these percentages found in this article would go down proving even less urgency in the hospitals.

We implore you, as a government official, to stand by the Constitution and protect the rights of your constituents.  Your action from this moment forward will determine whether or not you will retain your government position in the next election.  The parents will not stand for this attack on the civil rights of their children.  Help us fight for our youngest citizens of America and the future generations of New York.

Signed by New York residents who will NEVER give up!