Your Child Does Not Have the Necessary Vaccinations.
I got a call from the middle school.
“There are new vaccination requirements for all sixth graders,” said the automated voice of the school principal. “Please check with your doctor to be sure that your child has the necessary vaccinations.”
Unlike 99% of parents, I immediately emailed my doctor. They sent me back a note the next day, complete with Dylan’s and Shane’s records, and assuring me that Shane did, indeed, have the necessary vaccinations.
A week went by. I got another call.
“If you are receiving this message,” said the voice, “it means that your child does not have the necessary vaccinations to enter seventh grade.”
You have got to be kidding, I thought.
My kids are very fortunate. They have parents who care about them, a dad with a job and health insurance. We haven’t missed a check-up since we brought the first baby home from the hospital. The kids have gotten every single vaccination they needed since the day they were born. We even get them weighed and measured once a year, to be sure they are growing properly.
And we just finished their 2016 annual check-up.
So I called the school nurse.
“The last thing we have is from 2011,” said the nurse. “Shane got a flu mist at the school clinic.”
“Yes, he probably did,” I told her. “But what vaccine is he missing?”
“He needs a blah blah with a blah blah blah,” she said, speaking medical mumbo-jumbo.
I pulled up his records on my computer. All of their vaccination records were from prior to 2011. And I found the one she’d just “blah-blahed” about.
“He has that right here!” I said. “Can I just email this to you and you can tell me what’s missing?”
“Sure,” she said. She gave me her email address, which is not available on the school’s website. For some reason that I’ve yet to learn, nurses are exempt from being included on school websites.
I emailed the vaccination records, with the note from the doctor saying that both of my children were up-to-date with their vaccines.
“I don’t understand what could be missing,” I said. “Even the doctor says they are up-to-date. Please let me know ASAP what I can do.”
Then I waited. And waited.
Eventually, I got a note back: “Thank you! Shane’s immunization record is complete and updated.”
No explanation.
In other words, the school lost Shane’s original records, and needed a new copy.
So glad I could provide that for them.