I don't want my child getting vaccinated at school

Apr 03, 2023

Declining Consent may not be enough

 Parents with children in a UK school will soon encounter the routine of vaccinations being administered in school. A vaccination provider such as the NHS or a private company will be in touch with parents and ask for their consent. This may be a paper form but increasingly parents are asked to give their consent via an online form.

 

 

 

Confusion can set in already at this early stage, with parents reporting some forms only have a 'yes' option but no way of saying 'no' or else asking parents to justify their refusal. Alternatively some parents may object to the wording. They may be happy to say they don't want their child vaccinated but the form may read 'I don't want my child protected' which the parent then won't want to put their name to.

 

 

 

Strictly speaking you do not need to submit anything in order to say 'no'. If the vaccination provider doesn't have your consent, they cannot vaccinate your child. A clear 'no' may however help avoid confusion on the day, as staff may start trying to call you or even ask your child to give their own consent.

 

 

 

Consent in medicine is only valid if it is given by a competent person, free of pressure and undue influence and after receiving unbiased information. This seems almost impossible in a school setting. Nevertheless children are sometimes asked to give their own consent, possibly even in defiance of their parents' refusal. We have published extensive guidance for parents about these issues. Occasionally children are vaccinated due to administrative errors and even strong pressure from staff with a fanatical bias towards vaccination is not unheard of.

 

 

 

Being absolutely certain that your child will not have the vaccines in school is therefore difficult. Even if you keep them at home, there may be unannounced catch-up sessions later on.

 

 

 

Here are some tips that will help make any mishaps less likely.

 

 

  • return any consent forms with a clear 'no' by the deadline or put your refusal in your own words
  • make sure your child knows they are not meant to have the vaccine and do what you can to empower them
  • consider keeping them at home on vaccination day
  • make sure teachers and school staff know about your refusal as well as the vaccination provider and ask them to help prevent any mistakes
  • in some cases a legal letter to the vaccination provider may be appropriate

 

 

 

 
Once again we see that claims popular among so-called "common-law" or "freeman of the land" advocates are simply not true. These assert that only by registering the child's birth do they become "property of the state" and that not doing so means the state has no authority over them.
 
In this case, a mother, C, had been infected with HIV during childhood vaccinations in her country of birth (not the UK). Now pregnant, C was very reluctant to take anti-retroviral medication meant to help her unborn child and was also reluctant to agree to her child being treated after birth. She had told doctors that she knew other HIV positive mothers who had given birth to children without treatment and that the children were HIV negative. The court was told she now regretted having told her doctor she was pregnant.
 
The judge expressed understanding of C's mistrust in orthodox medicine given her experience. He also acknowledge that there was no question she wanted the best for her child. Although Justice Hayden made the order allowing the treatment to take place, this sort of application is not a walk in the park for hospitals.
 
UK courts consider such an order "at the extremity of what is permissible under the Convention [European Convention of Human Rights] and a highly exceptional course of conduct". The application was therefore tested rigorously. Nevertheless judges will always rely on expert evidence. They can't second-guess doctors on how serious or not a certain course of action will be.
 
State authority therefore assumes a right over the baby as soon as he or she is born. In this case this happened under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court. The question of registering the birth did not even arise.