Anthony Gold

Get in touch

020 7940 4060

  • People
  • Insights
  • What to Expect
  • Contact Us
Anthony Gold
  • Services
    • Housing And Property Disputes
      • Property Disputes
      • Leasehold Services
      • Services For Commercial Landlords, Tenants And Agents
      • Services For Residential Landlords And Agents
      • Housing And Tenancy Issues
      • Judicial Review
    • Injury And Medical Claims
      • Life Changing Injuries
      • Medical Claims
      • Personal Injury
      • Child Abuse
    • Family And Relationships
      • Starting Relationships
      • Ending Relationships
      • After Relationships End
      • Useful Contacts
      • Religious & Cultural Issues
      • Family Law FAQs
      • Family Dispute Resolution
      • Modern Families And Surrogacy Arrangements
    • Conveyancing, Property & Business Services
      • Business Agreements
      • Business Disagreements
      • Commercial Property
      • Commercial Property Disputes
      • Leasehold Services
      • Residential Property
    • Wills, Estates & Court Of Protection
      • Wills, Trusts And Estates
      • Claims Against Trusts And Estates
      • Capacity And Court Of Protection
    • Dispute Resolution & Employment Law
      • Personal Claims
      • Professional Negligence
      • Business Disagreements
      • Claims Against Trusts And Estates
      • Employment
    • People
    • Insights
    • What to Expect
    • Contact Us
  • Get in touch

    020 7940 4060

  • Housing and Property Disputes
  • Injury and Medical Claims
  • Family and Relationships
  • Conveyancing, Property & Business Services
  • Wills, Estates & Court of Protection
  • Dispute Resolution & Employment Law
  • Property disputes
  • Ownership disputes and shares in property
  • Challenging the decisions of councils and public bodies
  • Rights of way, boundaries, covenants and easements
  • Party wall disputes
  • Leasehold services
  • Lease extension
  • Collective enfranchisement
  • Service charge disputes
  • Repairs to leaseholds
  • Right to manage
  • Services for commercial landlords, tenants and agents
  • Breach of covenant
  • Forfeiture and recovery of possession
  • Dilapidations and failing to repair
  • Lease renewals
  • Services for residential landlords and agents
  • Regulatory issues
  • Repossession
  • Agents (including letting agreements)
  • Housing and tenancy issues
  • Repairs
  • Repossession and eviction
  • Rehousing and homelessness
  • Judicial review
  • Life changing injuries
  • Brain injury
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Amputation
  • Psychiatric injury
  • Fatal injuries and inquests
  • Medical claims
  • Surgical claims
  • Non-Surgical Claims
  • Birth injury
  • Child health and paediatrics
  • GP and primary care treatment
  • Private healthcare
  • Personal injury
  • Road traffic accidents
  • Accidents abroad
  • Accidents at work
  • Faulty products
  • Public liability and other accidents
  • Child abuse
  • Child abuse
  • Starting relationships
  • Pre nuptial agreements
  • Pre civil partnership and same sex relationship agreements
  • Cohabitation and living together agreements
  • Property ownership agreements
  • Ending relationships
  • Divorce and separation
  • Ending a civil partnership
  • Ending cohabitation
  • Agreeing child arrangements
  • Agreeing finance and assets
  • International arrangements
  • After relationships end
  • Abduction and leave to remove children
  • Changing and challenging parenting agreements
  • Changing and challenging financial agreements
  • Grandparents’ rights
  • Useful Contacts
  • Financial planners
  • Referral to Pension Actuaries and Pension on Divorce Experts (PODEs)
  • Tax Specialists
  • Financial Neutrals
  • Counselling
  • Conveyancing
  • Wills
  • Religious & cultural issues
  • Jewish family law
  • Islamic family law
  • Family Law FAQs
  • Children FAQs
  • Cohabitation Agreement FAQs
  • No-Fault Divorce and Separation FAQs
  • Financial Issues FAQs
  • Pre-Marital Contracts FAQs
  • Family Dispute Resolution
  • Roundtable Meetings
  • One Solicitor Solution
  • Mediation
  • Collaborative Practice
  • Arbitration
  • Second Opinions
  • Private FDR’s
  • Early Neutral Evaluation (‘ENE’)
  • Modern Families and Surrogacy Arrangements
  • Domestic Surrogacy
  • International Surrogacy
  • Business agreements
  • Business advice
  • Employment
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Supplier contracts
  • Business disagreements
  • Commercial property
  • Commercial Sale and Purchases
  • Commercial loans and mortgages
  • Property Investment: plot developers & plot buyers
  • Auction: sales and purchases
  • Commercial advice for landlords and tenants
  • Planning advice
  • Mortgage debentures and securities
  • Commercial property disputes
  • Breach of covenant
  • Dilapidations and failing to repair
  • Forfeiture and recovery of possession
  • Lease renewals
  • Leasehold services
  • Lease extension
  • Collective enfranchisement
  • Service charge disputes
  • Repairs to leaseholds
  • Right to manage
  • Residential property
  • Residential Sale and Purchases
  • Property Investment: plot developers & plot buyers
  • Remortgages
  • Auction: sales and purchases
  • Ownership matters and transfers
  • Wills, trusts and estates
  • Making a will
  • Applying for probate
  • Distributing the estate
  • Arranging lasting power of attorney
  • Trust advice
  • Tax planning and advice
  • Claims against trusts and estates
  • Contesting a will
  • Losses caused by trustees
  • Capacity and court of protection
  • Appointing a deputy
  • Removing a deputy
  • Arranging lasting power of attorney
  • Gifts and legacies
  • Managing assets under a deputyship
  • Care issues
  • Removing lasting and enduring power of attorney
  • Special educational needs
  • Capacity and court of protection
  • Personal claims
  • Debt recovery
  • Ownership disputes and shares in property
  • Civil and commercial mediation
  • Building disputes
  • Professional negligence
  • Professional Negligence
  • Property Fraud
  • Investment Fraud
  • Business disagreements
  • Building disputes
  • Civil and commercial mediation
  • Claims against directors
  • Contract disputes
  • Debt recovery
  • Directors personal liabilities
  • Employment
  • Professional negligence
  • Claims against trusts and estates
  • Contesting a will
  • Losses caused by trustees
  • Employment
  • Employment
  • Unfair or Wrongful Dismissal
  • Settlement Agreements
Anthony Gold > Blog > Children and the Covid Vaccination

Lola Ajayi

ova@anthonygold.co.uk

Share
  • June 8, 2021
  • Blog
  • By  Lola Ajayi 
  • 0 comments

Children and the Covid Vaccination


The government has  announced that it hopes to have offered the vaccination to all adults by the end of July. Naturally, many have wondered, what about the children? Germany has recently made the decision to give children aged 12-16 the Pfizer covid vaccine. There have been recent media reports that the UK government is considering giving the vaccine to children over 12 in September 2021. This is unsurprising considering the UK has a long history of using vaccination as a tool to eliminate and/or heavily reduce the transmission of diseases e.g. the polio vaccinations.

Who provides consent to a child’s vaccination?

Vaccination is not mandatory in the UK and requires consent. Consent is required from a person with parental responsibility for a child under the age of 16. However, some children under the age of 16 can potentially consent to their own treatment if they can be deemed “Gillick” competent.

What happens when one parent does not agree to the child being vaccinated?

There are various opinions about the benefits and risks of vaccinations. Inevitably, some parents may not agree to their child being vaccinated. When parents disagree about a child having a vaccination, they will need to apply for a Specific Issue Order for the Court to decide whether the child should be vaccinated. The Courts have made it clear in F v F (MMR Vaccine) [2013] EWHC 2683 (Fam) that neither parent has primacy over the other.

The Court’s paramount consideration will be the welfare of the child and the Court’s decision will be based on what is in best interests of the child. In most cases, the Court have found vaccination to be in the best interest of the child.

In the case of Re B (A Child: Immunisation) [2018] EWFC 56 the Court decided that it was proportionate and in the child’s best interest to vaccinate the child as there would need to be  ‘significant concern for the efficacy and/or safety’ of a vaccine for the Court to rule against vaccination and this would require, at a minimum, the ‘existence of new, peer reviewed research conducted by a reputable specialist or institution.’

What about the covid vaccination?

The recent case of Re H (A child) (Parental responsibility: Vaccination [2020] EWCA Civ 664 also endorsed the decision in Re B. In this case the Court found that vaccination of a child in care was a matter which a local authority could arrange and provide consent to pursuant to the powers under s 33 of the Children Act 1989 – a Care Order. The Court made it clear that it would be unlikely to conclude that immunisation with the vaccines that are recommended for children by Public Health England and set out in the routine immunisation schedule are not in a child’s best interests absent:

(a) a credible development in medical science or new peer-reviewed research evidence indicating significant concern for the efficacy and/or safety of a vaccine and/or

(b) a well evidenced medical contra indication specific to the child or children who are subject of the application.

The case of M v H (Private Law: Vaccination) [2020] EWFC 93 was an application for a Specific Issue Order concerning the MMR, travel and the covid vaccinations. In the case the judge declined to consider travel or covid vaccinations prematurely as there has been no schedule or guidance for the administration of the covid vaccine for children at present. However, the Court confirmed that when parents cannot agree and the Court becomes the decision maker, it will be difficult to establish that a vaccination is not in a child best interest when it has been approved by scientific research and Public Health England unless there is evidence indication a significant concern of a particular vaccine or  contra indication specific to that child as it is now well established that the benefits of vaccinating outweigh the long-recognised and identified side-effects.

Children are not currently receiving the covid vaccination. However, given the Court’s previous guidance it is likely that the Court may follow the previous case law above. If you would like advice  concerning a dispute about your child’s medical treatment, please do contact us directly to arrange an appointment.

Lola Ajayi is a family paralegal at Anthony Gold. For further information email Lola at ova@anthonygold.co.uk or call 020 7940 3903.

*Disclaimer: The information on the Anthony Gold website is for general information only and reflects the position at the date of publication. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be treated as such. It is provided without any representations or warranties, express or implied.*

Lola Ajayi

ova@anthonygold.co.uk

Get in touch

Call, email or use a contact form – whichever suits you. We’ll let you know the best person to help you get started.

Call or Email

020 7940 4060

mail@anthonygold.co.uk

No comments

Add your comment

We need your name and email address to make sure you’re a real person. We won’t share your email address with anyone else or send you spam. Please complete fields marked with *.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

code

Related Services

  • Abduction and leave to remove children

  • Agreeing parenting

  • Family mediation

  • Changing and challenging parenting agreements

  • Ending cohabitation

  • Pre civil partnership and same sex relationship agreements

About the author

  • Lola Ajayi

Meet the team

  • Family and Relationships

Contact Us

Request a Call Back

About Us

  • Accessibility
  • Compliance
  • Responsible Business
  • Equality & Diversity
  • History
  • Our Beliefs
  • List of LLP members

Careers

  • Trainee Solicitors
  • Vacancies

Social Media

  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • View our YouTube channel

Online Payments

  • Payment page through Worldpay

Accredited by

Lexel Parctice
76000Award

Copyright © Anthony Gold Solicitors LLP. All rights reserved. Anthony Gold Solicitors LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC433560 and is authorised and regulated by the by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with registration Number 810601