Flu nasal spray not vegetarian

[AhBiscuits]

DD9 is vegetarian. No one else in the family is. She's very strict about it and checks packets carefully for things like gelatin if she is unsure whether she can have something.

Just had the email from school about the flu nasal spray and it says in there that the spray contains pork gelatin. She would 100% refuse to entertain having this if she knew. I don't know whether the injection would be vegetarian, I assume so, but there is also no way she would have that. Maybe some people will say make her have the injection if she refuses the spray. I'm not convinced a nurse would inject a wriggling screaming child that I've had to physically drag through the door.

DD has a heart condition, she's had open heart surgery before, and her cardiologist always asks that she has any vaccines that are offered.

She had the spray last year, I must not have realised it wasn't vegetarian. She's been veggie for about 18 months.

I'm not decided on what I'll do but am interested to hear some different perspectives.

YABU - tell her and let her decide what she wants to do.
YANBU - keep quiet, let her have the spray for the greater good.

Don’t keep quiet. She will find out and then you’ve broken her trust.

do what you can to persuade her to have the jag. If she’s old enough to decide to be a vegetarian then she’s old enough to suck it up and have a jag.

the major religions exclude medicines from food requirements.

She needs to have the vaccination, and that's clearly non-negotiable because of her health issues.

Personally, I would make it clear to her that she either has to have the non-veggie spray or the jab, and let her choose. However, she shouldn't have the option to opt out altogether.

If you really don't think you can get her to cooperate with either the jab or the spray once she knows, then sadly, I think you have no option but to keep the non-veggie nature of the spray hidden from her. And I say that as someone who has been vegetarian for the best part of 40 years. Health comes first.

Your dd simply isn't old enough to make a decision that risks her own health, and as the parent, you can't let her make that decision. However, lying to her risks the trust between you if she should ever find out, so I would only go down the route of not telling her about the spray if there really is no other option.

My dd always preferred the jab to the sensation of having it squirted up her nose anyway if that helps at all!

She's 9. You are responsible for her health, make the decision for her.

The injection is not strictly speaking vegetarian. It is cultivated using dogs kidney cells.

Had similar with my eldest, now 14 and been veggie since 7, also strongly dislikes injections. After a few conversations about it being important (and me relaying my experience of having flu) we got to the conclusion that the injection was tolerable

I wouldn't hide it from her, she'll find out and that will damage her trust in you. Talk it through and help her

Have you read the post she is vulnerable!
Speak to her and tell her she needs to have the jab if she doesn't want the spray.
I've been veggie almost 50 years so understand she may not want the spray but she needs to stay healthy.

I would speak to her and perhaps share this link so as least she has an understanding of why

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaccines-and-porcine-gelatine/vaccines-and-porcine-gelatine

it does say you can get a jab with no gelatin

The vaccine whilst gelatine -free does contain a small amount of fertilised egg protein. If she is as strict as you say, this could cause her to refuse. However, at age 9, you are the parent and whilst bodily autonomy is a good thing to foster in your child, she’s not yet fully competent to make decisions about her own health, so maybe just give her two choices as others have said.

However, there is an egg and gelatine free version of the injectable vaccine if your GP or pharmacy can
prescribe that for her. It might be another option to consider, if not this year, in the future.

It might be a good time to have a discussion - being vegetarian out of choice is different to needing to take drugs she needs to live.

All medicines are tested on animals (appreciate she’s not vegan) so there is probably a wider ethical discussion to be had here anyway.

In this scenario there is an alternative but there may not be in the future.

Nasal spray was never vegetarian. My dd chose the injection as she is not bothered by needles and everyone be like “hey didn’t know you were a vegetarian” so this year she’s having the nasal one just to avoid the stupid questions.

There are ways of getting over needle phobia - I have - so maybe go that road?

I would double check with her doctor that she is allowed to have the spray with her condition. I accidentally got dd the spray one year and her doctor was very unhappy with me. I didn’t realize she was only supposed to get the injection.

getting something, even if it is not vegetarian, is non-negotiable. If your child is medically vulnerable, they need to be protected. Lots of medication is not vegetarian. Choice is a privilege and sometimes it simply doesn’t exist.

if she gets the flu and needs serious treatment she won’t be able to make sure everything is philosophically acceptable either.

At 9yo dd my dd who ASD would walk to the doctor for her flu shot because she understood she needed it, but when it came time to do it I would have to hold her down with my entire body. It still happened and she isn’t angry with me for making her get it each year. At 16 she just went and got one last week like it was nothing.

Been a vegetarian for almost 40 years and this wouldn’t stop me. I avoid gelatine in sweets and deserts and wouldn’t take marine collagen or supplements for example, but for important health things then there’s not always an alternative and health comes first.

Here’s what the vegan society say about it, which might help.

https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health/medications

Ive never posted on these so I’m not sure if I’m doing it right but I’m a 33 year old vegan and I have been vegan for 8 years and veggie since I was 15 for context. I really admire your child’s interest in being veggie and aplaude you for being so supportive of something that is clearly very important to her! I would encourage you to show her the vegan society’s definition of veganism it can be found if you just google vegan society’s definition, obviously vegan is different than vegetarian but I feel it will still be helpful for her, there is this section regarding medicines

‘Currently all medicine in the UK must be tested on animals before it is deemed safe for human use, but please note: The Vegan Society DOES NOT recommend you avoid medication prescribed to you by your doctor - a vegan who is looking after themselves the best they can is an asset to the movement. What you can do is ask your GP or pharmacist to provide you, if possible, with medication that does not contain animal products such as gelatine or lactose. For more information visit the medicines website, which contains information on medicines prescribed in the UK, including ingredients lists.’

I take medicine and one of them is actually in gelatine capsules but that doesn’t make me any less of a vegan who doesn’t need medicine. I’ve not eaten meat in 18 years, taking medicine I need to be able to function doesn’t cancel out all the animals I have saved… sorry I’ll stop being annoying preachy vegan now 🤣 I really am just trying to give you ideas on how to explain this to her. I have no friends or family who are veggie or vegan and my parents were very unhappy with me going vegetarian at 15. Although my parents are supportive now, I can’t begin to explain to you how much I would of loved to have a parent who supported me in that decision like you clearly support your child.

The injection is ok. I would make it her choice.

Non veggie spray or injection she can choose but she must have one due to health condition. I think 9 is old enough for her to choose between the two.

In a similar boat here as my dd is veggie and hates injections, she doesn't have any underlying health conditions but I am very keen for her to be vaccinated, partly as she visits my father in a care home regularly.

I am also undecided what to do but erring towards not mentioning it.

She's had it in previous years, for some reason this is the first time I've noticed the line about pork gelatine in the email from school.

Also I wouldn’t lie to her, just explain that she’s made a big and grown up decision to go vegetarian and that’s amazing but if she’s going to be vegetarian long term unfortunately she is going to have to decide between the two options. Having neither and risking her health helps no animals (assuming her reason for being veggie is love of animals here.) Being the healthiest vegetarian she can be is the best advertisement to encourage more people to go vegetarian ever! Not sure if you would be up for it but you could offer to go vegetarian 1 day a week in support of her or vegetarian family dinner one day a week etc 👌

Surely you make the decision?

The injection is vegetarian, my vegetarian DD has made the choice to have that since a similar age to your dd.

Honestly, I think you are doing her a disservice by not allowing her to follow her beliefs. I talked with my dad about it and she made her choice between the two options. The nurses who give the injection have always been wonderful with her. Surely at 9 she won't be "wriggling and screaming", especially if it's a choice she's made?

At some point, she will find out you lied. Vegetarianism is an ethical belief and I think you should respect her right to it.

Thank you, I think if I can reassure her that choosing the spray does not mean that she isn't vegetarian then that's probably going to be the best option.

We already do meat free Monday. When she decided she loves animals too much to eat them, I made it clear that I would support her as long as her diet is healthy. She'd live on beige carbs given the choice. So Mondays we choose different veggie dishes and she helps me cook them for the whole family.

Doesn't the flu vaccine contain albumin? I'm always asked if I have an egg allergy before I'm vaccinated for flu.

Some do and some don’t.

Most have a negligible amount of albumin so unless you have an anaphylactic reaction to ovalbumin you can receive many brands of flu vaccine.

She’s had it before and was none the wiser, I would say nothing and have the spray.

9 is too young for informed consent. I would think differently with a teenager but there’s a reason 9 year olds aren’t culpable legally, they lack capacity.

This is what the injection flu vax is for. Google to find your school immunisations team or childhood community illuminations team and you’ll be able to book the injection with them