A private school in Miami is discouraging teachers from getting the COVID-19 vaccine — and in a letter to parents, the school says it will not employ anyone who has taken it.
Centner Academy's new policy directs teachers to not get the vaccine or they won’t be allowed around students — effectively losing their jobs.
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The policy has some parents looking for a new school.
"The whole year has been unbelievably shuffled for all of us to know what to do. And I don't know if there's going to be teachers there," said one mother, who asked to be identified as only Lidia because she says she signed a document that prohibits parents from speaking ill about the academy.
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"They're very pro 'my body, my choice,' and yet, it's the complete opposite of that is what she's actually telling these teachers. It's your body, but it's her choice," Lidia said.
Leila Centner, the school’s co-founder, issued a statement to NBC 6 on Monday, saying in part, "We are not 100% sure the COVID injections are safe and there are too many unknown variables for us to feel comfortable at this current time."
In the statement, Centner suggests the vaccine may be responsible for unfounded reports of reproductive issues for women.
“..It appears that those who have received the injections may be transmitting something from their bodies to those with whom they come in contact," the statement read.
"I mean, that's just absolutely an insane comment," Lidia said. "I mean, I don't know how she can possibly imagine that something's going to pass through the air from one person to the other."
Doctors and scientists have repeatedly debunked false information about the vaccine’s side effects, and there is no indication that any of the coronavirus vaccines cause reproductive issues for women.
In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended COVID-19 shots for pregnant women after preliminary data from the largest study of coronavirus vaccine use among expectant mothers showed that Pfizer's and Moderna's jabs were safe for the women as well as their babies.
"No safety concerns were observed for people vaccinated in the third trimester or safety concerns for their babies," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday. "As such, CDC recommends pregnant people receive COVID-19 vaccines."
Lidia says if she could take her child out of this school now, she would, but her hands are tied. She already paid about $30,000 of tuition up front.
Centner Academy also says its decision will stand until they know for sure the vaccine is 100% safe.
Below is the full statement from Leila Centner, the CEO and co-founder of Centner Academy:
The health and safety of our students has, and remains, our #1 priority at Centner Academy, the first happiness school in the US which draws on the latest research in the fields of mindfulness, emotional intelligence and the science of happiness.
For example, on March 16, 2020, at the very onset of COVID in the US, Centner Academy was the first school in Miami, and one of the first in the country, to close in-person classes and fully pivot to online learning.
Subsequently, on September 8, 2020, we fully opened in-person, while many schools around the country remained online, and still do to this day. We weighed the data and studied the research. We knew then that children had a 99.9974% survival rate and children were not super spreaders. We also studied the increase in suicide rates and related emotional issues due to the lockdowns and children being required to remain learning online.
Our responses and actions have consistently been out of an abundance of caution and thoughtful decision-making when risks to our children are presented. This includes physical as well as mental health risks.
Anecdotally, tens of thousands of women all over the world have recently been reporting adverse reproductive issues simply from being in close proximity with those who have received any one of the COVID-19 injections, e.g., irregular menses, bleeding, miscarriages, post-menopausal hemorrhaging, and amenorrhea (complete loss of menstruation).
No one knows exactly what may be causing these irregularities, but it appears that those who have received the injections may be transmitting something from their bodies to those with whom they come in contact. Until more is known, we must err on the side of caution when it comes to the welfare of our students and the school team.
We are not 100% sure the COVID injections are safe and there are too many unknown variables for us to feel comfortable at this current time.
This injection is still classified as an experimental drug and is not scheduled for FDA approval until at least 2023. We can re-evaluate our decision once more is known about the drug, if and when it passes FDA approval. As many of you may be aware, this injection is known to have issues. This injection is an experiment. See the links below to see adverse events reported on the U.S. government website VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) since the general public began taking the injection:
"Underreporting" is one of the main limitations of passive surveillance systems, including VAERS. The term underreporting refers to the fact that VAERS receives reports for only a small fraction of actual adverse events. VAERS is a government database managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
When it comes to human health, it’s very personal. This injection is still classified as an experimental drug. It is not scheduled for FDA approval until at least 2023. We know not everyone agrees on this topic, but this is our philosophy at Centner Academy, one in which many of our teachers and parents share.
It’s no secret that education systems around the world are facing challenges in preparing students to deal with the demands of unpredictable circumstances related to COVID-19.
At Centner Academy, we are teaching children how to navigate change and become emotional ninjas, while keeping them healthy and safe physically, mentally, and emotionally.
