"What are you here for?" Anna asked to Rosa.
"My son contracted the measles; I heard that he got it from school apparently. But it should be treatable, the doctors said that they would do their best" Rosa responded.
Rosa was sitting alone in the waiting room. Anna walked in shortly after, and sat down on a chair nearby Rosa. As she saw Rosa's distressed body language and face, she came over to her, and the conversation started.
"Yeah, I'm sure he'll make it. What school does he go to?" Anna added.
"Thanks, he goes to Washington school" Rosa said.
"Wait, that's where my son goes! What grade?" Anna asked.
"The 5th, he's so young, he can't leave me" Rosa replied, and started to go into tears.
"It's ok Rosa, it's going to be fine. My son is in the 5th grade too" Anna said.
"Mr. Ross' class?"
"Yeah! My daughter's name is Mary, your son might know her" Anna added.
"Wow, what a coincidence. Wait, what are you doing here? Is your daughter alright?" Rosa asked.
"She is a little under the weather at the moment, so I took her to a doctor that I know here. Plus I know that he won't give her any of those vaccinations that the schools and government have been telling us to give our kids." Anna remarked.
"Wait, so your child wasn't vaccinated, but is sick?" Rosa asked.
"Yeah, but I bet she just has the cold or flu or something. She'll be fine. But anyway yeah, my husband and I chose not to vaccinate our child. I mean, we don't know what is actually in those vaccines, and what the side effects are. This could turn into a similar situation to cigarettes, such as when they were 'the thing' back in the 1940s-60s, but then turned out to cause cancer" Anna explained.
"Excuse me" Rosa asked.
"What?" asked Anna, as she saw nothing wrong with not vaccinating her children for non-medical reasons.
"Have you checked your daughter for the measles?" Rosa asked.
"No. She did have a rash on her back but-" Anna stated.
"Then there's a high chance that she has the measles, especially since she was not vaccinated" Rosa said.
"I don't think that's how it works-" Anna replied.
"No, that's how it does. When there is an increasing amount of children that are unvaccinated, it not only jeopardizes the health of those children, but even the ones who were vaccinated as well. With your daughter not being vaccinated for the Measles, you could have infected my son and his entire class with the disease" Rosa explained.
"I… I-" Anna said as she was trying to think of another excuse.
"Literally unless your daughter has a medical exemption from the vaccine, there is no reason for you to declare a non-medical exemption, even for religious reasons. In fact, Washington State is actually mandating that all students have their vaccines, or they cannot attend public school in January 2020" Rosa said.
"But-"
"Rosa Gutierrez" a nurse called.
"Yes?"
"Come with me, the treatment for your son's measles was successful-" the nurse informed Rosa as they walked deeper and deeper into the hospital.
Anna waited in the room for awhile, thinking about the possibility of her only daughter potentially contracting the measles. The anxiety are her alive until she heard the words
"Mrs. Brown? Please come with me, we have much to discuss"
For Further Reading
Alexa Lardieri "Seattle Students Without Measles Vaccine Prohibited From School"