Parents request unvaccinated blood used in baby’s heart surgery
Two parents are requesting blood used in their baby’s life-changing open-heart surgery be sourced from people who weren’t vaccinated for Covid-19.
In an online video, Samantha Savage-reeves and Cole Reeves claim they are concerned blood containing a vaccine would be used during the operation needed by 4-month-old Will, despite their fears reportedly being dismissed by medical professionals and information published by the New Zealand Blood Service.
The Herald has sent a request for comment to a representative of the parents and sought comment from Health New Zealand, New Zealand Blood Service and several government ministers.
In the video, the parents were interviewed by former TV newsreader Liz Gunn, who has repeatedly voiced Covid-19 mistruths and was seen earlier this year confronting a news reporter about claims of fainting children at an Auckland vaccination centre — a claim that was rubbished by health officials.
The parents were reportedly being interviewed in Auckland’s Starship children’s hospital alongside their baby, whose parents say needs open-heart surgery after being diagnosed with “severe pulmonary valve stenosis”.
The New Zealand Heart Foundation described stenosis as when one of the heart’s valves didn’t open properly, meaning pressure and blood could back up and cause strain on the heart.
However, the parents said they didn’t want the surgery to use blood that came from a person vaccinated for Covid-19.
The pair claimed they had more than 20 unvaccinated people who were willing to donate blood, but this had not been approved by the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS).
The parents, alongside Gunn, reportedly had a meeting with a doctor and a surgeon on the matter and their concerns were dismissed, according to the video.
The video, uploaded on Monday, stated Gunn’s interview was occurring on a Friday and the surgery was supposed to take place on a Tuesday. It was unclear whether they were referring to Tuesday this week.
The New Zealand Blood Service website featured frequently asked questions relating to blood donation and Covid-19 vaccination that included whether the vaccine was passed on through donation among other points.
The website confirmed any Covid19 vaccine was “broken down” in the blood soon after injection and would not be transferred to recipients of donations.
“All donated blood also gets filtered during processing, so any trace amounts that may still be present poses no risk to recipients,” it said. oncerning Covid-19’s spike protein, NZBS said it was present in “vanishingly small quantities” in the blood of some people for the first two weeks after vaccination.