Ham-fisted COVID mandates for adults are one thing but start forcing parents to vaccinate their kids, and one should expect nothing less than a battle royale. With regulators only days away from clearing the first approved pediatric vaccine, many parents are standing their ground against what they see as a violation of parental rights.
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 20 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine for kids in the five to 11-year-old age group are ready to be rolled out all across America. This means the thorny issue of mandating school kids to get the new vaxx is ready to take the center ring in the COVID-19 circus.
Experts from the Food and Drug Administration are set to hear about the "safety" and "efficacy" from Pfizer and BioNTech drug company officials on October 26, according to a prominent Washington newspaper. This news came to light only days after White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients told CNN, "We're ready, we have the supply," as if approval of the new children's vaccine was a fait accompli.
As the federal government, the CDC, and drug company officials are discussing vaccine allocation, parents are getting more and more uncomfortable with talk of forced vaccinations for their elementary-aged kids. In Virginia, a petition filed by Kristen M. Calleja advocating school-mandated vaccines already has more than five thousand comments – the majority of which are objections to her request.
Not So Fast
Jessica Longshore is one such incensed parent who wrote in part, "This petition is asking for something that is, at its foundation, unconstitutional and infringing upon the basic of human rights [sic]." Erik Smith argued, "Mandates are not legal nor is the timeframe on an experimental drug. It takes 2 years to fully approve a vaccine it hasn't been 1 year yet and it's approved. Government shall make no law or mandate on what I should do with my body. No forced vaccinations of children or teachers." In opposition to the petition, Tina Oneill took to all caps to express herself: "NO !!!!NO !!!!NO !!!NO !!!!NO.... NO TO MANDATES, NO TO FORCED MASKING, NO TO COVID 19 VACCINATIONS!!!!!!!!!! Stop violating our rights and our children’s rights!!!!!!”
Under the heading "Stop This Ridiculousness!!!!" an outraged Jennifer Adkins wrote:
"I am shocked at the ignorance which the politicians and media has manipulated so many into. This is unconstitutional and illegal!!! No one should have the power or force anyone to have to get this 'chemical injection' into their system. A person has the right to decide what is right for them and for their child. This is a no-brainer ... I DO NOT AGREE and you need to vote NO. This is a political game that is being played and the American people are being used and abused ... we need to get back to common sense and logical thinking AND, most importantly, we need to get back to putting the American people first and listening to them and allowing the healthcare of families left to the family ... NO NO NO!!! Enough is enough!!!!"
Thousands of parents commented on the petition, and those for the mandated vaccines were few and far between. Daniel Latham laid out a particularly compelling treaty against the early childhood vaxx:
"Are you just going to wait until they are carting your neighbors off to camp over there [sic] personal choices? Do you plan to wait until regular citizens, who want nothing more than to go to work and provide for their family, are fighting the police in the streets to protect their children? Or maybe you believe that you will be a part of the new ruling class and will not be subject to this kind of tyranny.”
As parents know well, the looming FDA approval of a vaccine for young children is a hornet's nest because it will pave the way for state and local officials to issue vaccination mandates for schools. And if Virginia – which has become a blue state in recent years – is any indication, the pushback from parents nationwide is going to be epic.
It has been said, "The most dangerous place in the world is between a mother and her children," but that is where government authorities may find themselves as federal regulators sanction the first pediatric coronavirus vaccine for use in young children.
~ Read more from Leesa K. Donner.
