MIAMI (AP) — A private school founded by an anti-vaccination activist in South Florida has warned teachers and staff against taking the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Centner Academy in Miami sent parents a letter Monday informing them of a new policy against employing anyone who's had the shots.
Teachers or staff who have already received the vaccine were told to continue reporting to school but to stay separated from students.
Co-founder Leila Centner wrote employees last week saying she made the decision with a “very heavy heart.”
In that letter, Centner claims the vaccines are not life-saving medications and that they haven’t proven to prevent death from COVID-19 or to stop transmission of the coronavirus, both assertions that contradict scientifically backed statements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration and other public health agencies.
Centner also makes an unsubstantiated claim about “non-vaccinated people being negatively impacted by interacting with people who have been vaccinated,” which has not been identified or supported by the CDC, FDA or any other major health organization in the country.
The school is choosing to ignore the advice of public health officials and the Miami-Dade Health Department, which are advising everyone 16 and older to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Centner and her husband David Centner started the school in 2019 after moving to Miami from New York. The school’s website promotes “medical freedom” from vaccines.