Parents say they will keep their children at home if (as seems likely) the Covid vaccine roll-out is extended to 12-15 year-olds to stop them from being “peer-pressured” into getting ‘jabbed’ because they fear children will be given the final say on the matter. The Telegraph has the story.
Family groups said that the law appears to give children the ultimate say over vaccination, with the confusion causing panic in families. …
“We have seen an incredible amount of concern among parents about the suggestion that parental consent for children as young as 12 may either be overridden or not needed if you are relying on Gillick competence,” said Molly Kingsley, the co-founder of the parent campaign group UsForThem.
“We have heard a lot of parents saying that if it happens they will keep their children off school for the duration of any vaccination programme.
“Were vaccination of children to happen on school premises without fully respecting the need for parental consent it would really prejudice parents’ trust in schools.”
Guidance circulated to NHS trusts says that most 12 to 15 year-olds should be deemed “Gillick competent to provide [their] own consent” over jabs.
That refers to a 1985 legal decision which ruled that a teenage girl could obtain contraception without her parents’ involvement.
Children who are deemed “Gillick competent” can give consent themselves, meaning that permission from parents would not ultimately be necessary for the Covid vaccine.
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