Parents Oppose Vaccination of Minors Based on Informed Consent Legislation (Belgium)

In Belgium the organisation Notre Bon Droit is supporting a case filed on behalf of a dozen families who appeal the decision to open vaccination for minors aged 16-17. According to them this authorisation is illegal and the requirements for informed consent cannot be met.

Several testimonies of outraged parents reveal that minors have been vaccinated in vaccination centers without having first seen a doctor.

In most cases, minors « invited » to get vaccinated and their parents have never received any medical advice prior the injection and have never been objectively informed on the potential side effects and risks. Risk benefit ratio is different according to age as the number of Covid-19 death cases in minors is extremely rare and the middle and long term effects of the experimental vaccine are of course still unknown. Informed consent can therefore never be given as required by the Belgian law of 2002 on patient’s rights.

Parents are also contesting the concept of ‘medical majority’ invoked by the government to authorise this violation of parental authority.

Parents have authority over their children and are responsible for them until the age of 18, as long as they are “minors” according to article 372 of the Civil Code.

Article 12 of the law of 2 August 2002 provides an exception stating that:

“If the patient is a minor, the rights established by this law are exercised by the parents exercising authority over the minor or by his guardian.§ 2. Depending on his age and maturity, the patient is involved in the exercise of his rights. The rights enumerated in this law may be exercised autonomously by the minor patient who can be deemed capable of reasonably assessing his or her interests.”

However this does not mean that minors can be vaccinated without parental authority permission!

According to the above-mentioned articles, and more particularly to art.12§2 al.2 of the law of 2002, the professional practitioner can give the minor patient the right to make decisions concerning his health on the basis of an individual assessment.

Thus, for example, a minor can meet with a doctor and be prescribed a treatment without the parents’ consent.

However, before doing this, the practitioner will make sure to assess the young patient’s ability to understand what is being explained and to make decisions.

The practitioner also needs to ensure that the patient is fully informed, especially about the advantages and disadvantages of the treatment in terms of side effects.

He must also present to the patient the different treatments available to remedy his medical situation.

However, this does not seem to be the case for these minors that the authorities intend to consider as being “medically adult” in the framework of the vaccination campaign.

Finally, the specific legal requirements for the vaccination of minors participating in clinical trials, which apply for Covid-19 Vaccines, are also not met.

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