Disabled 15-year-old to have Covid vaccine against mother’s will

A JUDGE has given a disabled 15-year-old boy the go-ahead to have his Covid-19 vaccine against his mother’s wishes.

At the Family Law Court Judge Mary Larkin used a provision in the Child Care Act to allow the Child and Family Agency (CFA) to proceed with the vaccination.

Judge Larkin granted the order to the CFA under Section 47 of the act after the boy’s GP stated in a letter that due to his disabilities he ‘is at risk of serious and potentially fatal complications should he contract the Covid-19 infection’.

The court heard that the boy has told his dedicated social worker that he wants the vaccine so that he can go out to town and the cinema again.

Judge Larkin said that, at the boy’s age, ‘the voice of the child’ in the court proceedings has to trump the view of others with a different view. The judge stated: ‘The tenor and thrust of all medical data and evidence is that people with underlying needs have greater need to be vaccinated than anyone else. I have no difficulty in granting the order that he receive the vaccine.’

The teenager has been in full-time care with the CFA since the age of four.

His two foster carers both want him to receive the Covid-19 vaccine but his biological mother, who he does not see, does not wish him to have it.

His social worker told the court: ‘He is currently not vaccinated and life has become extremely limited for him since March 2020.’

‘He rarely goes out unless he is in a car or goes to his respite carers.’

She said that the teenager has a range of medical issues and a mild to moderate intellectual disability.