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

 

 

 

Should we be worried about the WHO treaty?

 

Little is as yet certain about this proposed international treaty. At the time of writing, March 2023, only the very first draft has been published. There is much concern being shared online about this, as some media have stated the World Health Organisation will have powers to impose pandemic responses and health policies onto nation states and essentially lock down the planet.

As it stands, the treaty would not give the WHO such powers outright. However, there are certainly consequences, intended or otherwise, to signing such an agreement.

 

Nation states signing this treaty (the UK says it’s keen to do so) agree to implement the various obligations via their own legal systems. Not all of these obligations point to a draconian control regime. Human rights and basic freedoms, for example, are to be protected by all states. They also have to ensure that pandemic control measures remain proportionate. In any country which has not already got such safeguards, the treaty could be a tool for human rights defenders.

 

However, the overall tone of the treaty would embed a culture of fear, where states constantly need to prepare for and rehears pandemics, educate people on the danger of diseases, combat “misinformation” and stockpile medication. This does not sound like creating a happier world. Moreover, the adopted tag line “none of us are safe until all of us are safe” seems to imply that no level of risk is ever acceptable and that as long as some are vulnerable to a disease, this is justification enough to impose measures on everyone else.

 

The obligation to be prepared for health crises at all times is good news for the pharmaceutical industry. Governments will have to spend more money financing research and being prepared with stockpiles against any eventuality. Here too, however, all is not bad. The treaty in its current draft would impose a duty of transparency on companies and governments. Publicly funded contracts would have to be made public, including the prices paid by governments for pharmaceutical products.

All is speculation, however, until we know what comes out of the negotiations and what a final version will look like.