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Mum uninvites daughter's anti-vax friend from party

A mum has revealed how she had to uninvite one of her daughter’s friends from her birthday party because she found out the girl was not vaccinated.

Responding to a Reddit thread asking ‘Doctors of reddit, what are some of your worst experiences with anti-vaxxers’ the woman said her daughter’s best friend was a cancer patient and she would not risk having an unvaccinated child near her.

After I sent out invites to my kid’s birthday party, I found out one of her friends from dance was unvaccinated,” the mum wrote.

A mum had to uninvite a friend from her daughter’s birthday. Photo: Getty
A mum had to uninvite a friend from her daughter’s birthday. Photo: Getty

“My daughter’s best friend is in remission from Leukemia and is immunocompromised. An unvaxxed kid could kill her.

“I uninvited the dance kid and very nicely explained the situation.”

The child’s mother however, was not happy to have her daughter excluded from the party.

“Her mother loses her sh** and tries to get us kicked out of the dance school they attend,” the woman went on.

Photo: Reddit
Photo: Reddit

That soon backfired though, when the owner of the dance school implemented a new rule that students had to be vaccinated.

“The dance school owner is an older lady and had no idea there were idiots these days that didn’t vax, so she implemented a new rule that students had to be up to date and the unvaxxed kid had to find a new dance school,” the mum said.

“I felt bad for the kid. Herd immunity saves lives when it comes to kids fighting cancer,” she concluded the post.

The unvaccinated child’s mum was not happy. Photo: Getty
The unvaccinated child’s mum was not happy. Photo: Getty

The post soon stirred up debate as to whether it was fair to uninvite the child. But the majority of people agreed it was the right thing to do to not put the cancer patient at risk.

This is the thing about antivaxers that really drives me nuts, I feel terrible for their kids getting put at risk, but it’s even worse than that, they are putting at risk anyone who is immune compromised,” one person commented. “Elderly, sick, pregnant people, new born babies…. It’s selfish and irresponsible.”

“If it was just their own kids, I might see an argument that people shouldn’t be compelled to vaccinate,” one person said, trying to be diplomatic. “I’d still think it was a stupid decision to make, but I could see an argument for it. However, that argument falls to shreds because of how the unvaccinated child can pass diseases onto others.”

Herd immunity is a form of indirect protection from infectious disease that occurs when a large percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, thereby providing a measure of protection for individuals who are not immune

To achieve herd immunity for infectious diseases, coverage needs to be high. For example, measles is highly infectious so it needs a coverage rate of about 92 to 94 per cent.

Australia is working with other countries to increase immunisation coverage around the world, as part of the Global Vaccine Action Plan 2011–2020. According to the Bureau of Statistics, Australia is close to meeting its aspirational target of 95 per cent, with more than 90 per cent coverage for one year olds, two year olds, and five year olds currently.

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