Do my children have to be vaccinated against COVID?

Following the recent announcement that vaccinations against COVID-19 are now being extended to 12-15 year olds, some parents are seeking guidance on whether they have to allow their children to be vaccinated. Vaccinations have become a controversial topic for some recently. Famously, a 1998 study linked the MMR vaccine with Autism – even though the findings were conclusively disproved (the study was found to be largely funded by a personal injury solicitor acting for the potential claimants and the doctor responsible was struck off), this flawed study still wields influence today regarding some people’s views on vaccines. More recently, although the majority of the adult UK population have been vaccinated against COVID-19, a significant amount are reluctant to be vaccinated for a range of reasons – some people hold ‘anti-vaxxer’ views, some (including Nicki Minaj!) have concerns about vaccine safety or potential side effects, some feel their civil liberties are being infringed and some just don’t believe the risks outweigh the benefits. Others may be happy to receive the vaccine themselves but have concerns when it comes to their children.

At present in the UK the law is clear that vaccinations are voluntary and not mandatory. If both parents agree that their children should not be vaccinated, then the state will not force this to happen. The difficulty occurs when the parents do not agree upon whether or not their children should be vaccinated.

 What if my ex/partner won’t agree to our child being vaccinated?

If one parent would like their children to be vaccinated and the other parent wouldn’t, either parent can apply to the court to settle the issue. An application would need to be made to the court for a Specific Issue Order under section 8 of The Children Act 1989.

The recent case of M v H (private law vaccination) [2020] considered general vaccinations on the NHS, future travel vaccinations and the COVID-19 vaccination. The judge considered the research material presented during the case, the strong views of the mother who was opposing the vaccinations and any potential breach to human rights but considered that the children in that case should be vaccinated.

This is in line with all recent case law, and it does seem that it is very unlikely in the event of parental dispute that the court will order that anything other than vaccination is in the children’s best interests.

In conclusion, children do not have to be vaccinated where the parents agree that they should not be. However if one parent feels that the children should be vaccinated and the other parent disagrees, the likelihood is that the court will order that the children should be vaccinated unless there are exceptional circumstances to persuade the court otherwise.

 We will continue to monitor developments with interest….