The head of the child protection center rejects the ban on unvaccinated children from educational institutions

The head of the Child Protection Center (BAC), Gunita Kovaļevska, rejects the idea of ​​banning children from schools who have not undergone compulsory vaccinations.

In her interview with the TV3 program 900 Seconds, she explained that in this case the child suffers from his parents’ decisions. Any restriction imposed on a child due to the behavior of his parents is unacceptable. “Regardless of other countries’ practices, I would prefer if we didn’t do this,” Kovaļevska said.

When asked to comment on a recent statement from the Office of the Ombudsman, which clarified that the decision to vaccinate a child in so-called anti-vaxxer families may be required by the doctor to be made by the orphans’ courts , the head of the BAC said that this is the case. In practice, it is not that easy, because knowing that a child is not vaccinated is not enough. Orphans’ courts are allowed to decide on such issues only in situations where a child’s health is at risk, as the employees of these courts are not medical specialists, Kovaļevska explained.

“We thought about it a lot. “If there were a situation in which a medical facility or a family doctor could say what risks exist, i.e. if they could speak of a danger to the health or life of a child, then one could definitely turn to the orphans’ court,” he explained Head of BAC. However, in her opinion, it is unacceptable for a medical facility or family doctor to go through a patient list, find unvaccinated children and then forward this information to an orphans’ court.

In such cases, an orphans’ court would not be able to examine such issues in depth, as the fact that a child is not vaccinated does not mean that the child’s health and life is in danger.

Unless there is a second opinion that suggests the opposite, explains the BAC boss.

Discussions about how to increase childhood vaccination coverage reportedly flared up again in September, with several unvaccinated children becoming ill with diphtheria and one of them dying.

Vaccination against diphtheria is paid for by the state and is available to all residents of all ages.

Also read: Latvian Minister: All basic vaccinations should be mandatory

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