School expels 8-yr-old because mother refused to give her vaccine booster shot that family Dr deemed unsafe

The Long Island mother, Jamie McNichols has refused to get her 8-year-old daughter Ceili a Tdap booster shot that FDA guidelines stipulate should be given to children no younger than 10.

Their doctor said Ceili is too young for the booster, per FDA guidelines although CDC guidelines say children her age are old enough.

The Mail Online reports: Ceili McNicholas was expelled from Long Island’s Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School last week after her mother Jamie refused to let her receive the Tdap booster, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.

McNicholas said her daughter’s doctor wouldn’t administer the shot, which is a new requirement of the Miller Place Union Free School District, because it’s recommended only for children over 10 years old.

And FDA guidelines back the doctor up.

‘If we give that Tdap vaccination between 7 and 10, we are using it off label,’ Long island pediatrician Dr. Mary Renna told CBS New York. ‘So if we can’t use it, then we are the ones going to be held liable.’

According to FDA.gov, the Tdap brand ‘Boostrix is approved for use as a single dose in individuals 10 years of age and older.’

And that’s what scares McNicholas, whose daughter is part of a small group of children who got their whooping cough vaccinations before age 4.

‘I believe in vaccinations, and that’s not the issue,’ she told NBC New York. ‘The issue is an age-appropriate vaccination.’

Meanwhile, the school district has taken cues from the state–which follows CDC guidelines that do allow for children Ceili’s age to get the booster–in a bid to avoid whooping cough outbreaks.

And the rule states that, until she gets the shot, Ceili simply may not attend her school.

‘The only way that she will be back in school before age 10 is if the state makes an exception for my daughter and the other kids that are faced with the same situation, because I’m not getting her that shot,’ McNicholas said.