Nadhim Zahawi, the UK Government’s vaccines minster, has said if a 12-15 year-old wanting to receive a covid-19 vaccine was judged “competent” they could go ahead and do so against their parents’ wishes.
Children could have the ability to overrule their parents on a decision to take the Covid-19 vaccination if jabs are introduced for 12- to 15-year old teenagers, the vaccine minister said.
Zahawi said that parents of healthy 12- to 15-year-olds would be asked for consent if coronavirus jabs were approved for their children – expected to be pushed through by ministers this week despite scientific experts advised against doing so. But he added that children could have the final say, overriding their parents’ wishes “if they’re deemed to be competent to make that decision, with all the information available”.
He told Times Radio at the weekend: “What you essentially do is make sure that the clinicians discuss this with the parents, with the teenager, and if they are then deemed to be able to make a decision that is competent, then that decision will go in the favour of what the teenager decides to do.”
Last week, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) decided against backing the move to extend the vaccine offer to younger teens on health grounds alone. The independent panel of experts, which is made up of professors and doctors who routinely advise the Government on vaccination strategies, cited the fact that the Covid-19 virus presents a very low risk to that age bracket. It seems that advice is now likely to be set aside by the UK Government’s four chief medical officers, who claim to be taking wider considerations into account – such as disruption to education.
Zahawi said no final decision had been made. Speaking on Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Mr Zahawi said: ‘We have not made any decisions, so we haven’t decided not to listen to the experts.”
“On the contrary, all four ministers, the Secretary of State, Sajid Javid, and his fellow ministers in the devolved administrations have agreed to ask the chief medical officers to convene expert groups, including the JCVI being in that, to be able to recommend which way we should go on healthy 12 to 15-year-olds,” he added, alluding to the fact the UK government are seeking gather new evidence to go ahead with jabbing that age group.
The comments come as some family campaign groups warned that some parents are ready to pull their children from school during a potential Covid vaccination campaign in order to stop them being ‘peer-pressured’ into receiving the vaccine. Unions warned late last week that this year’s school return will lead to coronavirus ‘chaos’ as families worry about the pressure set to be mounted on their children at school.
Campaign group UsForThem said there is a ‘great concern’ among families after it was suggested that children as young as 12 could decide for themselves whether or not to get the shots.
Molly Kingsley, co-founder of the parent campaign group UsForThem, told the Telegraph: ‘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 overruled or not needed if you are relying on Gillick competence,” she said.
“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,” she added.
Kingsley also said that such a situation would be highly detrimental to parents’ trust in the education system: “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 states that most 12 to 15-year-olds should be deemed “Gillick competent to provide [their] own consent” over jabs. That refers to the result of a 1985 landmark legal decision (Gillick v. West Norfolk and Wisbech AHA, 1985) which ruled that a teenage girl could obtain contraception without her parents’ consent. The legal ruling means that children can access healthcare without parental consent if they are ascertained to understand the possible and probable effects of the treatment. ‘Gillick Competence’ also means that permission from parents would not ultimately be necessary for the Covid vaccine.
It comes as Mr Zahawi confirmed vaccine passports will be required to gain entry to large venues, arguing the documents are the ‘best way’ to avoid winter Covid closures.
The Vaccine Minister said yesterday (Sunday 5 September) that the Government is concerned large venues ‘could end up causing a real spike in infections’ because of groups of people mixing in close proximity.