Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 138 posts

Re: Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

#51

Post by puzzle »

frostburg wrote: post #22
pulse7 wrote: post #19

They will have problems with United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "26. The Right to Education. Education is a right. Primary school should be free. ..." Since primary school is a human right, nobody can ban you from primary school!

Which is why those parents get fined instead. Actually reading the article helps.

There is an even better incentive: make the parents accept liability for any medical costs caused by their unvaccinated children. Because their principles matter more than money, right?

Re: Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

#52

Post by gatherhunterer »

zug_zug wrote: post #45

I find it interesting and also confusing how invested random people on the internet are about the outcome of vaccination (which could theoretically cause an issue for a small percentage of the population), as opposed to say climate-denial (which will undisputably cause a much bigger issue for the entire population)

No one has an investment in Polio that they would lie to protect. There are no Measles lobbyists.

Re: Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

#53

Post by sevensor »

mac01021 wrote: post #4
CodeCube wrote: post #2

Fantastic (note that the article mentions (or at least hints at) medical exemptions, which of course makes sense)! Now ... if only we could make this happen here in the US!

If that's what you want, don't wait for the institution of a national policy. Talk to your local Board of Education.

On the one hand, yes, but on the other hand, this isn't a thing that should have to be a board of ed policy. At least where I live, the school board is unpaid volunteers, and it's already an absolutely thankless job. People I know who use Facebook tell me that the group for moms of local school-age kids is an absolute swamp of rage and misinformation. And if you've ever been to a series of school-board meetings on the same topic, you've probably seen the one angry community member who shows up every time to accuse the school board of corruption, incompetence, and lying to the public.

Re: Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

#54

Post by vonmoltke »

gatherhunterer wrote: post #38
CodeCube wrote: post #2

Fantastic (note that the article mentions (or at least hints at) medical exemptions, which of course makes sense)! Now ... if only we could make this happen here in the US!

Some states that refused (i.e. failed) to set up their own health care exchanges because they did not want to comply with the ACA have Medicaid programs that do not cover low-income adults. If you were deprived of vaccines as a child then you should be allowed to visit the doctor and schedule a series of vaccinations to catch up without paying a copay. It seems wrong to federally ban something without a federal solut…

While that is definitely a bad thing, the issue is about children. Children are covered under CHIP even if their parents don't get coverage under Medicaid.

Re: Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

#55

Post by frostburg »

puzzle wrote: post #51
frostburg wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why those parents get fined instead. Actually reading the article helps.

There is an even better incentive: make the parents accept liability for any medical costs caused by their unvaccinated children. Because their principles matter more than money, right?

That would probably be illegal too. I'd have picked a heavier fine, personally.

Re: Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

#56

Post by bluGill »

zug_zug wrote: post #45

I find it interesting and also confusing how invested random people on the internet are about the outcome of vaccination (which could theoretically cause an issue for a small percentage of the population), as opposed to say climate-denial (which will undisputably cause a much bigger issue for the entire population)

I'm invested because I'm planning on having a kid. For the first year of my next kid's life there is no vaccine that can protect him/her from disease, except everybody else getting vaccinated.

Re: Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

#57

Post by mac01021 »

celeritascelery wrote: post #28
mac01021 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's what you want, don't wait for the institution of a national policy. Talk to your local Board of Education.

I don’t think they have the power.

I'm no expert on this topic, but a brief google search produced this document which suggested to me that they often do:

https://www.nyccharterschools.org/sites/default/files/resour...

I do see that this is for a system of charter schools, but don't see why that should make a difference.

Re: Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

#58

Post by jarmitage »

frostburg wrote: post #30
jarmitage wrote: post #13

I would be interested to know if any Italians (or otherwise knowledgable people) are here who can comment on this anecdote: I once stayed with some Italians near Pisa, who were home schooling their children. They said that corrupt and ignorant politicians have added unnecessary vaccines to the list of requirements, due to lobbying/collusion with pharma companies and as a way to influence elections. As a result, some…

I am Italian. Those people were anti-vaxers. That's a typical conspiracy theory among them. Just so that you know, vaccines are the most cost effective form of public health intervention and the profit margins on them are thin, it would not make any sense to do what they told you. The election part is obviously insane.

I was certainly suspicious of their claims but I did not know that was typical anti-vaxer rhetoric. Good to know, thanks.

Re: Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

#59

Post by currymj »

zug_zug wrote: post #45

I find it interesting and also confusing how invested random people on the internet are about the outcome of vaccination (which could theoretically cause an issue for a small percentage of the population), as opposed to say climate-denial (which will undisputably cause a much bigger issue for the entire population)

Because lack of vaccination is a really easy problem to fix, via vaccination. Indeed we have already succeeded in doing this many times in history. So it’s stupider and more frustrating that these diseases are coming back.

By contrast combating climate change is a huge and complicated problem with or without climate deniers screwing things up.

Re: Italy bans unvaccinated children from school

#60

Post by citilife »

CodeCube wrote: post #2

Fantastic (note that the article mentions (or at least hints at) medical exemptions, which of course makes sense)! Now ... if only we could make this happen here in the US!

IMO this should not be a federal issue. Each state or school district can set their own rules (thus provide the option to parents).

This would pretty much make everyone happy. As most regions would setup the rules to best protect their children.

Now, I'll point out this is effectively is already a thing. You cannot attend school in many locations without getting your vaccines and / or providing a valid reason why you needn't have them. This is the beauty of living in a system which supports state rights. Similar to how Italy and France can set their own laws, so can the states in the U.S..

Post reply on HN