Letter: We were forced to vaccinate, one of our children is now a member of the EPIPEN club

I want to inform the public of the importance of doing an accurate and thorough investigation when it comes to the health of our children.

Not every method is a clear-cut answer for every person, and no person should be held responsible and have a taana against them in shamayim that were the catalyst for another family’s health issues or rachmana l’tzlan worse.

We immunized our children in a timely fashion, and our doctor was always in awe of how we always came exactly on time to take care of the health of our children, and made sure to return again if they needed to postpone the vaccine.

A close relative received a vaccine and from that moment on was an invalid until her petirah 10 years later. The medical community confirmed that the vaccine was the reason for her ill health. At the time of her petirah, and the fact that many of our children were showing adverse reaction to their immunizations, we chose to do more research. We came to the conclusion that immunization was a health hazard for our family. We spoke with Gedolei Hador and Rabbonim for the halachic standpoint as well, and were advised to refrain immunization from that point on. We received a government waiver against immunizing our children, due to the fact that we have severe reactions to immunization in our family. We did not think that our personal health was the business of the public. This was a private issue in our family.

At this juncture, with many people passionate about the measles, we were forced by the school to vaccinate our children, or they would be outcasts of society.

We did research in the best possible way, and tried to boost their immune systems as much as we could before giving this immunization. We are now dealing with adverse reactions to the MMR shot. One of our children is now a member of the EPIPEN club as the reaction was so severe. After almost 4 weeks, we are still seeing the ill effects of the vaccine. Our child is angry at the hanhala of the school and can’t understand why everyone wants to cause harm to children who may have adverse reactions. It is difficult for us to explain this. Maybe everyone else can?

Please let us just remember that Hashem wants us to be b’Shalom and most importantly not to judge others. You may not know what is going on in another’s home. I hesitated to write this letter, but if maybe one person would be able to see the other side of the story, it would be worth it.

May we all be zoche to see the coming of Moshiach speedily in our days.

Signed,

Wish we could sign our name but we are afraid for our family’s safety!

(Via [email protected])

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41 COMMENTS

  1. i feel for your child and your family. no one ever disagreed that if there was a real health concern (allergic, or like in your case of family history etc.), that you shouldn’t get the shot. The whole herd immunity theory is for people like you, who have a very good reason (and not based on a myth) not to get the shot. so i’m not understanding what went wrong here for you, that you were forced to get the shot.

  2. Anyone with a health situation isn’t forced to take the vaccination. If you would have shown the school the real fact that in your family there’s a problem no one would have forced you. The issue here is not everybody should mind their business but rather you should tell those that need to know your business such as the school.
    I wish your child to have a refuah shleima but don’t put us on a guilt trip. A child that does not have a problem taking the vaccination puts everyone else in danger. is that better?
    I feel for you and I sure can understand that you don’t want the world knowing your personal medical situation of your family. however you need to be able to trust the schools just like you would trust the doctors.

  3. A bit weird to call it, a member if the epipen club?
    Like what does that mean?
    My daughter has an epipen, if she accidently has a negative reaction to nuts. An epipen is there for people with alergies, alergies just don’t show up like that.
    And furthermore, although I symapthize with your family situation, overall shots have proven to be effective for the vast majority of millions, by posting these type of letters, you just give ammunition and aid and comfort to all the antivaxxers who put people in danger, including your family, because if you don’t get shots and an antivaxxers gets measles, your family shall be much more succeptible

  4. Posting these sort of letters is a disservice for the community as it encourages the anti vaxxers. Stories about anonymous people going to anonymous doctors and getting approval from anonymous Gedolim have zero credibility. I have yet to see one letter from any Gadol or respected Dr. back any of these claims.

  5. Actually, no one forced you to vaccinate.
    I have yet to see halachic precedence that allowed you to potentially damage your child for life so he can attend yeshiva for a few more days.
    Convenience isn’t an excuse. If it is, you are no different than the school that likewise couldn’t stand up to pressure of the doctors and decided that it was more convenient to them to exclude you.
    Sorry, no sympathies here.

  6. So sorry to hear. This mass hysteria has caused a lot of undue pressure on people to make rash decisions or else be labeled an outcast. I wonder how many cases there are of others who are now suffering.

  7. Thanks for sharing this with us.
    We can all clearly see that the Anti Vaxxers are as Biased and uneducated as usual. Does the child now carry an Epi Pen for a suspected reaction from a Vaccine 4 weeks ago? This is clinically impossible. Did your child become allergic now to a food that he wasn’t allergic too before? That too doesn’t seem possible. Now there is the possibility that you are blaming a food allergy on the vaccine and this the same good old Anti Vaxxer propaganda.
    We can also blame Global Warming, 9-11, Autism ect. on vaccines.
    This letter does not sound any more credible than any other Anti Vaccine comment. If you can clarify your story, please do so as it may actually be something important and was not written clearly.

    • I am NOT at all anti-vaccinations; only a stickler for accuracy. Anyone knowledgeable about the nature of allergies can tell you that, YES, a person can at any time develop an allergy to something not previously allergic to. And it’s even more likely to occur after exposure to an allergen the individual was not previously exposed to.

  8. Sorry this story doesn’t add up , do you have a family doctor and discussed your situation with him?? There are always exceptions to the rule. If you don’t have a doctor then you have problems.. did you discuss this with your Rav? If you don’t have a Rav you have a really big problem.
    Sorry something doesn’t sound right about this story.

  9. Hard to believe. There is not one school in Lakewoid that would force somebody to vaccinate if they have a specific medical allergy to vaccinations that is confirmed by a doctor.

  10. Disservice: You said it best! These kinds of anonymous letters mentioning anonymous gedolim and anonymous rabbonim are meaningless and only encourage the anti-vaxxer cult.

  11. All Rabbonim that are Pro-Vax specifically stated that those with medical issues need not vaccinate.Why did you not show your Gov’t waiver?Why did you not get a Doctors letter?Please explain in a future post.

  12. I don’t agree with the person who wrote this letter. That said, people in the comments can bring the same points across in a more sensitive way. Obviously the family is going through issues.

  13. My son has a boy in his class who, for whatever reason, is not vaccinated. The family has chosen to keep him home while there’s still an issue rather than vaccinate. That could have been your choice, too. I understand the inconvenience but if you believe your children are at risk, you can keep them home. No school is forcing you to vaccinate. This boy listens in to class every day and the rebbi keeps the phone near his mouth so the boy can keep up with the class. While I may or may not agree with the reason this child isn’t vaccinated (legitimate or not), I admire the parents for doing what they needed to do. There are other options.

  14. Why are you all saying this kid had a health issue? He was a perfectly healthy kid until the vaccine like thousands of others! You guys only understand families who have a vaccine injured child sorry but I want to prevent having a vaccine injured child ! There is thousands and thousands of mothers out there speaking how their children fell ill immediately following vaccination nothing to argue about . VAERS collects all injuries and deaths on a monthly basis the number is pretty high maybe people should educate them self a little bit . I am so sorry for this family. Yes they were forced into it! Stopping life and having your kid home for 1 month already like many families right now isn’t an option for eveyone. Mothers hv a life and need to work…. besides for school it means having you’re neighbors not okay with you’re child . How do U think that makes a kid feel,? Not being able to go to Shul …. Hashem Yishmor I’m scared for the peo & doctors responsible for all the injuries they cause . We need moshiach . Sinas chinam is more dangerous than any unvaccinated kid

  15. Frankly i dont believe your story sign your name so we can verify and then you’ll be believed if the story is true there should be no shame at all putting your name to it. Unless as proven countless times anti vaaxers will lie and put out false information to further their agenda

  16. Dear Epipen Club Member,
    It’s very hard to believe that all of your family members have adverse reaction to vaccinations, that just doesn’t make too much sense. Everyone ?? I have a child that’s allergic to dairy and he has the Epipen, but the rest of my family are big milk drinkers and like dairy food. Something just doesn’t add up in this story.
    Thank you.

  17. Just for the record : you have nothing to be concerned about your safety, it’s the other way around, people who get threatened are those who speak out against the avtivaaxers …look what happened to Snaps , they had to get armed guards just because he spoke out against the antivaaxers …

  18. Chaim , how could you say thousands ??? If that’s the case then we would of had a much larger percentage of anti-vaxxers in Lkwd …please don’t make up stuff.

  19. I was curious. Just checked VAERS. From 1980 through 2018 there are about 85,000 reported “reactions” to some type of measles vaccine. A reaction can range from a rash to fever to severe impairment. And VAERS follows up with each report but doesn’t add the follow up to their data, meaning it could be that a child had a fever after the vaccine, it was reported to VAERS, they followed up, and turns out the kid developed strep and that’s why he/she had the fever. And it still stays in VAERS system as a reaction. I don’t see how that adds up to a high number each month as Chaim says. I’m not looking to have Sinas chinam, just genuinely wanted to know the data- and you’re wrong. That’s approximately 187 reports per month- not thousands- across the USA even if every single one was real.

  20. Has TLS checked the veracity of this author’s statements prior to posting this on the internet? If not, shame on TLS for acting like a fake news website. Will you start posting reports of alien sightings and 9/11 conspiracy theories?

    This story is so vague- family member dies from unnamed illness purported to be induced by a vaccine. Children develop untold medical conditions also caused by vaccines. Anonymous rabbonim have recommended not vaccinating other children in the family. Why wasn’t a medical professional consulted? I can’t think of one healthcare provider that would recommend a person receive a vaccine if it presented a legitimate health risk to the patient. For example, people with severe egg allergies are not given the flu vaccine.

    If your child had an anaphylactic reaction from the MMR vaccine why would they need an EpiPen? Is there a chance that your child will go to a friend’s house and find an MMR vaccine in the refrigerator and eat the vaccine? If someone has an allergic reaction to amoxicillin they aren’t prescribed an EpiPen, they just stay away from the penicillin family. This story is so full of holes it is embarrassing that TLS posted it.

    • Another interesting fact, the state with the highest vaccination rate, has the lowest autism rate. I believe it si Alabama, researched this a while back.

    • Because the governments / Martians / evil intelligent aliigators who control the minds of the vax manufacturers only told them to put in the autism juice in the 90’s. They were trying to lull the population into accepting the vax first.

    • mmr is not the only vaccine that causes autism dtap does too.
      it is the toxic load of vaccines plus the fact that we give 72 vaccines. in the 60’s 70’s we gave about 10 at most.
      fyi in the 60’s the mmr was 3 separate vaccines. it was not lumped together as one – whole different ballgame.

  21. FAKE NEWS !!! THIS LETTER WAS WRITTEN BY A MESIVRA BACHUR LOOKING TO CREATE HOCK. NO ONE EVER SAID A PERSON WHO HAS A MEDICAL REASON NOT TO VACCINATE CAN’T COME TO SCHOOL. BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME. (Chaim if you are the one who wrote this letter, please stop it is not funny)

  22. Chaim, You are correct that it’s terrible to have a child at home, to miss work, not going to shul, having neighbors think somethings wrong with you. So, STOP ABUSING YOUR CHILD AND GET HIM/HER VACCINATED!!!!!

  23. “The medical community confirmed” “a government waiver” please don’t waste my time with vague assertions that don’t add up and read like typical anti vaxx alternative facts.

  24. if this is fake news, we should find the perpitrator and punish him/her to the fullest extent of the law. If it is genuine then we should show some sensativity. Mob or herd mentality can lead to an under educated school admin/honhala member to make wrong decisions

  25. My nephew showed signs of autism BEFORE his first dose of mmr at 12 months. How does that work out for the anti vaxxers? My sister vaccinated him & all his siblings. As so do I.

  26. How do we know whether this story is actually valid and not some made up propoganda hoax like Dr Wakefield? Where’s the proof? Wait for it……That’s right folks – surprise twist – there isn’t any!!!!

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