Parents launch legal action over roll-out for kids
A group of parents calling for an urgent review of Medsafe’s decision to roll out the Pfizer vaccine to young children have taken legal action.
A bid was lodged in the High Court at Wellington last week, which was heard on Monday, with Justice Rebecca Ellis granting anonymity to the applicants. The application for a preliminary order to immediately halt the roll-out was not granted.
In December, Cabinet ministers approved a paediatric version of the Pfizer vaccine, which is about a third of the adult dose, after it was approved by Medsafe, the Government’s medicine regulator. Children aged 5 to 11 were able to receive the vaccine from Monday.
Another hearing for orders to halt the roll-out is scheduled to proceed on January 27 before Justice Ellis.
In a statement, an organisation called The Hood, which supported the group, said the families stated they wished to protect themselves and their children from further bullying that has occurred in schools, as well as socially, due to the decision not to vaccinate.
‘‘Pfizer will be served with the proceedings and will be given an opportunity to be heard in court,’’ the statement said. ‘‘The legal action has been brought by the group of parents who have questions for the Government that they feel have not been properly answered.’’
The Hood states it is made up of a wider group of 1500 concerned parents, doctors, nurses, academics, scientists, lawyers and others.
‘‘Like the applicants calling for a judicial review, we want the Government to answer the many questions we’ve also been raising. These parents are not ‘anti-vax’ ... many have vaccinated their children against measles, mumps, rubella and other childhood illnesses.’’
Dr Jin Russell, a developmental paediatrician at Starship Children’s Hospital, said clinical trial and real-world data showed the children’s vaccine has an ‘‘excellent safety profile’’.