Netherlands authorizes a 12-year-old boy to be vaccinated for coronavirus despite the rejection of the father

A 12-year-old Dutch boy achieved this Thursday that the Justice of Netherlands support him in a complaint against his father for not wanting to give him the necessary permission to be vaccinated for coronavirus, a ruling that now authorizes him to receive the injection immediately, even if his father appeals the sentence.

The court of Groningen in northern Netherlands, agrees with the minor because, he emphasizes, he is aware of the dangers of coronavirus and he wants to limit the risk of contagion, especially to his grandmother, who has a metastatic lung tumor and the boy cannot visit her because “he is convinced” that an infection would have fatal consequences on her.

According to the Dutch newspaper “De Volkskrant”, the child’s parents are divorced and have a bad relationship, so communication about the two children, both minors, is difficult, and, in addition to the differences of opinion about vaccination against covid-19, there is already another open lawsuit on the division of parenting and care tasks.

While the mother supports the child’s vaccination, the father is totally against the covid-19 vaccines because he doubts their side effects, nor does he support the coronavirus tests.

The complainant is already in the first year of Secondary Education and has the minimum age to receive any of the Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, authorized in the European Union for minors, and the judge considered that the child’s interest in vaccination overcomes a father’s “unfounded” objections about the long-term health risks of vaccines, such as infertility.

However, the Court understands the father’s concerns and emphasizes that “there is in fact a small risk” of developing serious side effects, such as pericarditis, but that these are known to the Health Council, which advises the Government on the campaign to vaccination, and can be well recognized and treated in most cases.

As an example, of the 9.6 million doses of Pfizer / BioNTech administered in the Netherlands, only two cases of myocarditis and eight of pericarditis were identified.

Under Dutch law, young people between the ages of 16 and 18 can be vaccinated without parental permission, while minors of that age group need permission from both parents.

The sentence now allows the minor to be vaccinated immediately, even if the father decides to appeal the ruling. According to the child’s lawyer, Bennie Werink, this is the “first time such a case has been seen with a coronavirus vaccine” in the Netherlands.