Florida private schools bans teachers from getting Covid vaccine, citing baseless conspiracy theory

‘Children shouldn’t be around teachers who are vaccinated,’ institution reportedly says

The owner of a private school in Florida has seemingly banned teachers against receiving the coronavirus vaccine, citing an anti-vax conspiracy theory, reports have said.

Centner Academy, a private school that charges almost $30,000 a year per student, according to CBS4, asked teachers to wait until the end of the year to get vaccinated or risk their job.

“Until further notice, we ask any employee who has not yet taken the experimental Covid-19 injection, to wait until the end of the school year,” the email reportedly reads.

It continues: “We also recommended that all faculty and staff hold off on taking the injection until there is further research available on whether this experimental drug is impacting unvaccinated individuals.”

The school in Miami, run by Leila and David Centner, reportedly said it maintains a policy “not to employ anyone who has taken the experimental Covid-19 injection until further information is known”.

The school reportedly cites a baseless conspiracy theory regarding women’s reproductive health saying that they have had “at least three women with menstrual cycles impacted after having spent time with a vaccinated person.”

The comment appears to come in reference to false claims that the coronavirus vaccine can be passed from an immunised person to an unvaccinated woman and affect their reproductive system.

Reuters fact-checked the claims with medical experts, who agree that it is impossible for a person to “transmit” the vaccines or for a woman’s reproductive system to be affected by being around a vaccinated person.

The email effectively makes the teacher’s continued employment at the school contingent on avoiding the vaccine and requires employees to disclose their vaccination status in a form to the school, The New York Times reports.

The form reportedly requires employees to “acknowledge the school will take legal measures needed to protect the students if it is determined that I have not answered these questions accurately.”

In a statement to CBS4, the school said: “We’re doing what we think is in the best interest of the children because children shouldn’t be around teachers who are vaccinated.”

Ms Centner’s publicist reiterated similar sentiment to The Times, and repeated false claims that vaccinated people “may be transmitting something from their bodies” leading to adverse reproductive issues among women.

“We are not 100 per cent sure the Covid injections are safe and there are too many unknown variables for us to feel comfortable at this current time,” the statement reportedly said.

Discussing whether it was legal for the school to fire teachers for receiving a vaccine, employment lawyer Carter Sox with Gallup Auerbach told CBS4: “Generally a private employer in Florida can fire someone for any reason or no reason at all.”

The school prominently advertises on its website support for “medical freedom from mandated vaccines.”

CBS4 reported that one teacher has already resigned, but said it was not clear if it was in direct result of the policy.

The Independent has reached out to Centner Academy for comment.