School in Miami quarantines students

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"Prudent precaution" or "nonsense"?

A building of the private Centner Academy in Miami

The mail went to all parents, the content was clear.

If you have your children vaccinated, it is best to do so before the next summer vacation.

After each vaccination, the students would have to be in quarantine for 30 days in order to rule out the risk of infection and transmission as well as unknown side effects, wrote Bianca Erickson, director of the Centner Academy in Miami.

One month quarantine for vaccinated children?

No face-to-face classes in the classroom for a month?

In the middle school there was already a similar regulation at the beginning of the school year, so school founder David Centner on SPIEGEL inquiry.

"Now that the Covid vaccination is being considered for the five to twelve year olds, the regulation for the younger students has been adopted."

It was decided to take a compulsory break for vaccinated people, "because several parents in our parents' council were of the opinion that this was worth considering," said Centner.

Although the school management does not believe that a vaccinated person could infect another person with Covid-19, there are "numerous anecdotal reports that are in circulation on this subject."

Centner had been involved in anti-vaccination campaigns several times in the past, for example as an "executive producer" of an alleged documentary by lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, who in turn appeared at events organized by so-called "lateral thinkers" in Germany.

Centner is also a major donor from the US Republicans and massively supported Donald Trump's election campaign, as reported by NBC, among others.

Measures are "nonsense"

Centner does not contest the fact that anecdotal experiences and the opinions of individual parents may only be a weak basis for far-reaching decisions. With all measures that could affect the health of the school members, one must proceed with caution, says the school founder. "As long as there are no definitive and scientifically proven studies that refute these reports, we must do what is best for our students and staff." The quarantine for vaccinated people is therefore a "prudent precaution."

Aileen Marty, a professor at Florida International University, considers the measures to be "nonsense".

The school's approach lacks any scientific basis, said the doctor and infection specialist on the "WSVN" portal.

“They made that up.

That's science fiction. ”No, she corrects herself, that isn't even science fiction, that is“ pure fiction ”.

The Florida private school made headlines in the spring when it banned teachers from direct contact with children and adolescents after the vaccination.

Instead of teaching, these teachers are only allowed to take on administrative tasks.

more on the subject

• Corona deniers in Great Britain: Vaccination opponents pull in front of school gates

• Historians on anti-vaccination: What we can learn from dealing with cholera, plague and smallpoxAn interview by Rafaela von Bredow

• Corona news on Wednesday: North America reports a record number of hospital cases among under-50s

And on the school's website, those responsible warn of an "increase in chronic diseases and disabilities among our students" through vaccinations.

The confused rationale: Statistics have shown “that over the past 20 years the rates of attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities in children have doubled, the rates of asthma doubled, the rates of diabetes tripled, and the rate of autism has increased by 600 percent in every single state are".

Aileen Marty can only shake her head at that.

"I think it's terrible that all this misleading information comes from an institution that is supposedly an educational institution," says the medical doctor.

However, because the Centner Academy is a private school, the US school authorities can hardly influence their decisions.