Chris Lange, FISM News
A Los Angeles mother says her 13-year-old son received a COVID-19 vaccination at his school without her consent in exchange for pizza.
Maribel Duarte said she was not informed by anyone at the Barack Obama Global Prep Academy that her son was vaccinated and was shocked when he brought a vaccination card home from school, according to an NBC Los Angeles affiliate who broke the story.
“The lady that gave him the shot and signed the paper told my son, ‘Please don’t say anything. I don’t want to get in trouble,'” said Duarte.
The district would not confirm the incident or any details thereof, citing confidentiality of student matters, but confirmed its Safe Schools to Safe Steps incentive program includes prizes.
“With the Jan. 10, 2022, student vaccination deadline approaching, the District introduced the Safe Schools to Safe Steps Incentive Program throughout Los Angeles Unified Schools,” said a Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson. “This program offers incentives to families who upload proof of their vaccine, have an approved medical exemption, or have conditional admissions,” said the official, adding that vaccinations are “essential” for the district’s students. A Jan.10, 2022 vaccination mandate for children 12 and older is currently in place in the district. Unvaccinated students without a legal exemption will be forced back into virtual learning.
Duarte said she is not anti-vaccination – she is vaccinated – but did not want her son to receive the vaccination due to his underlying health conditions including asthma and allergies.
“It hurt to know he got a shot without my permission, without knowing and without signing any papers for him to get the shot,” she said. “I should have been involved.”
Jennifer Kennedy, an attorney who has been following two cases filed against the school district over the vaccine mandate, said children cannot legally consent to vaccinations.
“The LAUSD does not have the power to add a vaccine to the California school schedule,” she said. “You couldn’t do it if you were a podunk school district and you can’t do it if you’re LAUSD, the second largest district in the nation. You don’t have that legal authority.”
Kennedy referred to the incentivized vaccine programs designed to entice children with “cash prizes” and other rewards as “grotesque,” adding that the intense focus on pushing children towards vaccination fosters an unhealthy and unsafe academic environment. “Even the existence of these mandates in the schools has created this environment of pressure, bullying, segregation, discrimination, and accidental vaccination of kids without parental consent.
“Vaccinations are an essential part of the multi-layered protection against COVID-19 to keep our students safe and healthy for in person instruction,” said the LAUSD spokesperson. “The school has an overall vaccination rate of over 80 percent and will continue to work closely with its community for all eligible students to meet the vaccination deadline.”
In California, school vaccines are handled through the state Department of Public Health and then crafted into law through the state legislature.