Parents worrying about possible negative effects of the flu shots are trying to block New Jersey from becoming the first state to introduce flu shots for preschoolers.

The decision is to be made by the Public Health Council on Monday. If approved, New Jersey would become the first state to require annual flu shots for children in licensed preschools or day care centers.

Moreover, health officials want to introduce, as obligatory, other three vaccines: a booster shot to fight whooping cough for sixth-graders, a meningitis vaccine for children aged 11 (and above) and a pneumococcal vaccine for preschoolers.

According to deputy health Commissioner Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, the vaccines have already been approved by the state health department and Gov. Jon S. Corzine. The final decision belongs to the Public Health Council on Monday.

Dr Bresnitz assured everyone that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had licensed the new vaccines, saying they should become compulsory for children in preschools and day care centers. In addition to the CDC, other medical organizations recommended the new vaccines, the American Academy of Pediatrics numbering among them.

Dr. Bresnits also believes that getting the new vaccines, the number of hospitalizations would decrease as well as the number of parents staying at home and taking care of their sick children.

"It's a great day for public health in New Jersey. We believe this will limit the disease, decrease hospitalization and prevent death not only for the children affected but also in the community at large,” he said, according to the Associated Press.

On the other hand, parents do not feel the same way about the shots as there isn’t enough evidence that the vaccines are safe and effective.

"It is not right for the government and unelected councils to dictate what we put into our children," said Sue Collins, co-founder of the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination.

Parents on Friday tried to look for government support in their trying to stop the vote on Monday. They urged support for a bill that would give parents a right to “philosophical objection” to vaccine mandates. The bill has been sitting in a committee for four years without action.

They accuse the influenza vaccine for containing mercury, a toxic heavy metal blamed by parents as a cause of autism, although there is no clear evidence in this sense.

Almost 18,100 cases of serious vaccine-related side effect were reported in 2007, according to the national Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. The number of reports had risen to a total of 208,419 since 1990.

Almost 108 of every 100,000 children 5 or younger are hospitalized with complications from the flu and about 100 die, according to a CDC’s report.