QLD Shared parental responsibility - Covid Vaccine Disagreement

[JadeGoldCoast]

Hi all,

My partner (father) is currently going through his 2nd court proceedings, with a court report booked for 18th January 2022.
My partner would like his son to receive the Covid vaccine, we are based in QLD and for the first time we have real Covid numbers and already know a fair few people with the virus.

Child is currently in our care for the remainder of the holidays, so my partner messaged the mother (shared parental responsibility) to advise of his wish to vaccinate the child due to the raising numbers. Mother has advised she does not agree and wants to discuss the vaccine with my partner in the family report. My partner has advised he is happy to discuss the vaccine with the report writer, but there is no time scheduled for the parents to talk on the day.

I was hoping to get any opinions on whether we are doing the right thing by waiting for the court report to take place, and then, if possible, requesting orders that the child can be vaccinated?
Part of us feels it is in the child's best interest to receive the vaccine before returning to school (before the next court date), but we do not want to complicate matters in court.

Thanks!

 

[Atticus]

I was hoping to get any opinions on whether we are doing the right thing by waiting for the court report to take place, and then, if possible, requesting orders that the child can be vaccinated?

The stark reality is that your child IS going to be exposed tot this virus, probably sooner than later, certainly well before a court report and order... So the only real question is, is the child going to get Covid with a vaccine or without ... I know what my choice would be... I wish the vaccine was available for my grandkids under 5

 

[JadeGoldCoast]

Thanks for your reply Atticus. This is our concern, the child returns to vacation care for a couple of days next week and we would feel awful if he contracted the virus unprotected.

In your opinion, are we likely to be reprimanded from the court for not following the orders relating to shared parental responsibility?

The mother has messaged stating the child may have already contracted the virus and presented asymptomatic, and she would agree to him taking a blood test to check if he has antibodies and natural immunity.. we don't really agree to this. The child for one hasn't been in contact with anyone with the virus yet, and even if he did have antibodies, the recommendations are to still get vaccinated even if you have previously had covid. We have replied with this in a message to her with a screen shot from the Australian Government advising the same, not that we think it'll do much unfortunately.

 

[Atticus]

In your opinion, are we likely to be reprimanded from the court for not following the orders relating to shared parental responsibility?

Not sure this would even fall under PR (as in needing to seek an agreement with the other parent).... Not been tested yet ASFAIK.

By all available evidence, you are acting in the kids best interests by getting them vaccinated .... You have cited to her the Govt recommendations, which are also based on the best medical advice ... That trumps her concerns or any theory she may hold about natural immunity being better than a vaccine.

You have very little to worry about if you proceed IMO .... The question then will be, will she agree to the second vax.

 

[sammy01]

I hate my advice. HATE IT.
You guys are frequent fliers on this site. Look, if it was polio my advice would be different. Right now is this a fight to have? If you get the kid the jab is the ex gonna withhold the kid? probably....

Look if the kid is healthy, then maybe, this is one that is better left alone for the minute. Now just checking. What do you mean by "with a court report booked for 18th January 2022."??? This might be a good thing to bring to the judge's attention because it will re-enforce the fact that she is a twit....

 

[JadeGoldCoast]

Hi Sammy, was hoping you would respond.

We have a family report booked for 18th Jan - so 10 days away. Judge has already called into question shared parental responsibility as mother isn't following pediatrician advice (in writing telling father that the child should be able to make his own decisions relating to medication - age 7). Mother is also causing problems for the treating psychologist who now will not see child unless parents agree due to shared parental responsibility. Mother will not agree to current or to a new treating psychologist - we are hoping this also calls into question shared parental responsibility. Now there's issues relating to the vaccine, and when we mentioned to the child last night that kids are going to be allowed to get the vaccine, he went into melt down. Crying saying we don't know what's in the vaccine and it could kill him. It breaks my heart that his mother has played on his anxiety in this way.

So I guess we hope if my partner brings all of this up with the report writer, it will be evidence that the parents cannot effectively parent together. And hope for an order allowing the child to receive the vaccine or hopefully sole parental responsibility for my partner relating to medical. Although I don't know how hard this is to achieve.

I guess for us its an ethical dilemma. We follow the orders to a T - so it feels wrong making this decision without the mothers consent. But also, we feel were not acting in the child's best interest by not getting him vaccinated. 10 days doesn't seem like a long time, but the child will be going to vacation care and the virus is everywhere on the Gold Coast currently. Then it is 25 days from now until the next court date and he will be back at school.

 

[sammy01]

yeah, look, brutal, but leaving the kid un-vaccinated is good family law strategy. BTW - bloody hard to get into get a vaccine atm.... So look, I'd be encouraging you to use this an another example of her stupidity.

 

[Atticus]

I guess for us its an ethical dilemma. We follow the orders to a T - so it feels wrong making this decision without the mothers consent.

I think you know that mum is never going to consent.

The facts are these...

1) This strain has spread MUCH faster than anybody modeled. It has taken even medical experts by surprise
2) It's almost a certainty that this child, as all, will come into contact with someone who has Covid well before your court date
3) Governments as I write are deliberating on whether they will suspend face to face teaching to allow kids to get at least one jab
4) The court will not find in favour of a parent who opposes a Covid vaccine without good grounds, such as, a medical exemption
5) If you go ahead and have the child vaccinated, you can still raise her opposition in any family court related interview or proceedings, and seek authority to allow the child the second and subsequent jabs.
6) you seem to be wanting to argue that mum shouldn't be allowing a 7 year old child to dictate what medical procedures he will have, whilst allowing that 7 year old child to dictate to you what medical procedure he will have, in this case refusing a vaccine for a disease that he is extremely likely to be infected with in the near future.
7) Nobody knows how another person of any age is going to fare against this disease if they get it with or without a vaccine... There are record numbers of children needing hopilisation all around the world where this has spread .... By all evidence, a recent vaccine or booster gives extremely good protection against severe illness and hospitalization.
8) Whilst Omicron seems to be the dominant strain, Delta is still out there. Delta is more virulent than Omicron.

Withholding this vaccine to seek some kind of an advantage in a family law proceeding is both pointless (because he will likley get Covid before then) and unnecessary (because you can still use mums opposition to the second and subsequent jabs anyway) .... At this stage, the vaccine rollout for 5-11 year olds is set at 8 weeks between first and second

 

[sammy01]

yup - Atticus is smarter than me. Get the kid the jab, promise him a treat if he is 'brave' and let mum rant to the judge about how your 'deceit' in getting the kid the jab behind her back amounts as child abuse. That will be fun to watch.

 

[Tim W]

Get the kid vaccinated.
And do it knowing full well that there will be an immediate sh!tstorm
from the other parent.
The safety of the kid must come first.