Covid-19 Vaccinations For Children – Disputes Between Separated Parents

According to reports, children could be in-line to receive the Covid-19 vaccine from as early as August under provisional Government plans.

The University of Oxford is currently undertaking a clinical trial which tests the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine in younger age groups and it is believed that the University will be publishing their findings in June or July. The Telegraph has said that the Government are waiting for the data from the study before they make a final decision on whether those under the age of 18 receive the vaccine.

If the vaccine is offered to children and young people from the summer, it does have the potential for disagreements to crop up between separated parents who may have opposing views of the Covid-19 vaccine and whether their children should receive it. Below, we have provided some legal advice on this topic.

Covid-19 vaccine disputes between separated parents – parental responsibility laws and Court orders

Where separated parents, who both have parental responsibility, are unable to come to an agreement in respect of the administration of a vaccination (not necessarily the Covid-19 vaccine but other vaccines, such as MMR) to their children, the parents will be required to make an application to the Family Courts under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 for either a:

• Specific Issue Order – An Order in respect of a specific question in relation to an aspect of the parental responsibility of a child which has come up, or may crop up in the future; or a
• Prohibited Steps Order – This Order prevents a parent from taking a certain action in meeting their parental responsibility for a child – e.g. to stop a vaccination from being administered to their child.

In the circumstances where only one parent has parental responsibility and there is a disagreement with another parent (who does not have parental responsibility) in respect of the medical care of their child, the parent with responsibility has the deciding opinion and if the other parent wanted to intervene in this then they must make an application to the Court.

Parental responsibility is defined in Section 3 of the Children Act 1989 as:

“all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property”.

Disputes over who has responsibility for children can arise after relationship breakdowns. For further details in respect of parental responsibility laws, please click here.

The rights of separated parents who both have parental responsibility

Where both parents have parental responsibility they have equals rights in respect of their children, so one parent doesn’t have more authority than the other. In such cases where a resolution cannot be achieved in respect of medical treatment, there is no other option than to make an application to the Courts.

The Court will assess each application on a case by case basis, considering the relevant facts. However, past and recent case law (M v H (Private law vaccination) [2020] EWFC 93) has shown that the Courts are likely to rule that children should be vaccinated in-line with NHS vaccination schedules and that administering a children with a vaccine that is recommended by Public Health England is in their best interests.

It is important to note that the case referenced in the previous paragraph related to the administration of the MMR vaccine. Whilst the father in this case, within his application, was also asking the Court to rule on whether children should the coronavirus vaccine, Mr Justice MacDonald declined to make this decision as the Covid-19 vaccine is not yet included on the NHS childhood vaccination schedule. The Judge did, however, go on to state that as long as the Covid-19 vaccination is approved for use in children then the Family Courts would likely consider it to be in a child’s best interest.