Today, in WTF news
A private school with two campuses in Miami has warned its staff against taking vaccines that prevent COVID-19, saying it will not employ anyone who has been inoculated and spreading misinformation about the potential risks of vaccination.
Centner Academy, with campuses in the Design District and Edgewater, informed parents of its policy for teachers and staff by email on Monday. The announcement, first reported by the New York Times, left some parents, teachers and medical experts aghast because it was presented as fact without citing any scientific evidence.
Leila Centner, who co-founded the school with husband David Centner, warned that vaccinated persons “may be transmitting something from their bodies” that could harm others, particularly the “reproductive systems, fertility, and normal growth and development in women and children.”
Centner Academy was incorporated in 2018, state records show. The school has about 300 students and charges $30,000 a year in tuition for middle school, according to information provided on its website, centneracademy.com.
An emailed statement to the Herald lists concerns related to the vaccine but does not back up the claims with scientific evidence or peer-reviewed research, only links to unofficial websites that purport to track deaths related to the vaccine.
“We know not everyone agrees on this topic, but this is our philosophy at Centner Academy, one in which many of our teachers and parents share,” the statement read. Leila Centner did not reply to direct requests for comment.
“I believe strongly in Health Freedom and “my body, my choice” and for that reason, did not prevent employees from choosing to take the COVID-19 vaccine prior to April 21, 2021,” she wrote. “However, reports have surfaced recently of non-vaccinated people being negatively impacted by interacting with people who have been vaccinated.”
Centner asked staff who had already taken the vaccine to report that to the school and maintain physical distance from students. She also required all employees to disclose the information by completing a confidential form.
“Spreading misinformation about COVID vaccines without citing scientific evidence or even quoting a medical expert can diminish much of the messaging behind the measures that public health officials have taken to try and control the spread of the virus,” said Dr. Aileen Marty, a physician and infectious disease specialist with Florida International University’s Wertheim College of Medicine.
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