B.C. judge orders mom to get daughter vaccinated against father’s wishes

A B.C. judge has ordered that the mother of a 10-year-old child can get her daughter vaccinated against COVID-19 even though it's against the wishes of the child's father.

According to a Jan. 24 B.C. Provincial Court decision, the case involves two parents, the mother who is pro-vaccination, and the father who is anti-vaccination. They have joint custody of their 10-year-old daughter.

The Vancouver Island parents, known only by their initials in the court documents, have court-mandated parenting times, although none of the court orders specify parenting responsibilities between the two.

The decision says that while the pair were going through the court process, the mother and daughter both caught COVID.

The mother submits evidence based on guidance from the British Columbia Ministry of Health and argues she should get her daughter vaccinated because vaccinations prevent severe illness from COVID-19 and reduce the spread of infection in the community.

The father submitted a "summary of publications" that are critical of COVID vaccinations and argued that the unknown risks outweigh any possible benefits.

"In short, (the mother) proposes to make a parenting decision founded upon the advice of her family doctor and the publicly-stated position of the Ministry of Health. (The father) opposes the decision upon the basis of statements by people whose qualifications are unknown," Judge Ted Gouge says in the decision.

The judge then says that it will take too long to see the case go to trial and expert witnesses on both sides to be called.

"If (the daughter) needs to be vaccinated, she needs to be vaccinated now," judge Gouge said.

With that, he ordered that the mother can make the decision about whether, how and when their daughter is to be vaccinated.

Find the full decision here.

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