A mother in Los Angeles has said her son had been vaccinated at school without her consent after he was offered pizza according to a report from Newsweek.
Maribel Duarte told NBC 4 News her 13-year-old came home with a vaccine card after saying yes to being vaccinated in exchange for pizza at the Barack Obama Global Prep Academy school in South LA. Duarte said she should have been asked to give her written consent for her child to be vaccinated.
NBC Los Angeles stated: “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.'” The LAUSD says student matters are confidential and wouldn’t comment specifically, but did say its “safe schools to safe steps incentive program” is meant to ensure several steps are in place for vaccinated students to receive prizes.
Duarte says she’s not against the vaccine. She’s vaccinated herself, but it’s different with her son. “He has problems with asthma and allergy problems,” she said. Jennifer Kennedy, an attorney who is following closely the two cases against the LAUSD over the vaccine mandate currently making their way through court, said the problem is that kids in California can’t consent to vaccination.
Both are ultimately seeking an end to the mandate. “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.”
Fox News reported “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,” the spokesperson said.
“This program offers incentives to families who upload proof of their vaccine, have an approved medical exemption, or have conditional admissions.” The spokesperson said that the school has an overall vaccination rate of over 80%, adding that vaccinations are “an essential part of the multi-layered protection against COVID-19” that will enable students to stay healthy for in-person learning.
