Should Children Aged 5-11 Have the Covid-19 Vaccination?
Should Children Aged 5-11 Have the Covid-19 Vaccination?
On 12th September 2021, the Government announced the roll out of non-mandatory Covid vaccinations for children aged 12-15. This led to issues between parents unable to agree whether or not their children should have the jab, as highlighted by Sonal Parekh in her blog last year.
Given the recent recommendation by the Government that from April 2022 all children aged 5-11 should be vaccinated, parents of children in that age range now have to decide whether or not to provide consent for the jab. A recent public law case may be used to settle any disputes between them.
Re C (Looked after Children) Covid-19 Vaccination [2021] EWHC 2993 (Fam) saw the Courts, for the first time endorsing vaccinations given under a national vaccination programme.
The details of the case are as follows: a child in the care of the Local Authority under a Care Order wanted the Local Authority to exercise its parental responsibility and consent for him to be vaccinated for both Covid-19 and winter flu. His father and the guardian supported this. However, his mother objected as she did not accept that the vaccines protect children nor that the national vaccination programmes were based on sound evidence. In the end, the Local Authority needed to petition the court which it did successfully.
Since approval of the use of Covid-19 vaccines for children, Re C is the first reported case to provide us with an indication that the courts’ approach will be to find that the giving of vaccinations under a national vaccination programme are in a child’s best interests. Although Re C is a public law judgment, it is likely to be cited in future private disputes.
Specific Issue Orders
An application for a specific issue can be used to resolve various disputes between parents and guardians or those who hold parental responsibility.
If parents cannot agree on the Covid-19 vaccination for their children and mediation has not broken the deadlock, then an application can be made to the Court.
These applications are known as Specific Issue Orders and are covered under section 8 of the Children Act 1989. They are determined by the Court based on what it considers to be in the child’s best interests. If you wish to find out more about them or need advice on your position, please contact our Children team.
Speak to our Family Law specialists
Reena Vadera is a senior associate in the Family team and can be contacted on 01895 207 819 or reena.vadera @ibblaw.co.uk.
To contact the team please email familylaw@ibblaw.co.uk or call 03456 381 381.
