Eighty children get chickenpox at school that calls for 'tolerance' of vaccine dodgers

13 December 2015

Categories: Skepticism , Tags: Pseudoscience, Vaccines

Up to 80 kids - 1 in 4 - at Brunswick North West Primary School in Melbourne have contracted chicken pox (opens new window). The school is tolerant or even welcoming of parents who choose not to vaccinate their kids. Newsletters have reiterated this view:

"Staff respect the rights of every family to make choices about immunisation and we will definitely not exclude children who are not fully immunised from our service,"

"We expect all community members to act respectfully and with tolerance when interacting with other parents and carers who may have a differing opinion to their own. This includes an opposing understanding about child immunisation. In many aspects of our school life, we accommodate a range of opinions and beliefs from the parent community"

The chickenpox vaccine is offered for free (opens new window) as part of the Australian vaccination schedule (opens new window).

Australia has a "no jab no play" policy, but just for pre-schoolers.