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

 

 

 

The controversial US charity Childrens's Health Defence , founded by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is funding a lawsuit against a doctor alleged to have vaccinated two children against Covid-19 without parental consent. The mother also claims the children were wrongly told the vaccines were mandatory to attend school.

 

Children's Health Defence say the lawsuit seeks damages for false imprisonment, battery and fraud.

For parents who feel strongly about Covid-19 vaccines the case reads like a harrowing account of criminal behaviour and yet it is not uncommon. Consent Charity is regularly contacted by UK parents whose children received vaccinations at school without consent. Cases range from administrative errors to allowing a child to override parentail refusal based on Gillick competence .

What can UK parents do in such a case?

 

In practice, parents are often left without recourse to justice after vaccination without consent. The above case in the US, while claiming to be about damages, is in fact at this stage only seeking a declaration by the court as to who is right.

 

UK parents have broadly got three options and none have much chance of success.

 

  • claiming damages for the harm done by the unwanted vaccination, a process which involves proving harm, requires expert witness evidence and can take years while also being potentially bankruptingly expensive
  • reporting the case to the police: treatment without consent constitutes an offence and the healthcare professional could be found guilty of assault or battery (but good luck getting anyone to actually prosecute this)
  • bringing a private prosecution instead of relying on the police and prosecution services (CPS) - here the CPS still retains the right to take over the case and lawyers have told us that they will almost certainly do so and then discontinue the case; we do not know of any test case however.

 

The closest legal remedy available to UK parents is an injunction to prevent any (further) treatment and for this the court would have to be convinced that the treatment is not in the child's best interest. Judges cannot be experts themselves in all areas so they will rely on expert witnesses to guide them. Parents will find it almost impossible to find an expert who is acceptable to the court and yet willing to advise against vaccinations.

 

Other solutions

So far, the only viable way forward has been for parents to keep children home on school vaccination day and to make sure children are as affirmative as they can under the circumstances.