An Italian judge has ordered that a 13-year-old boy be vaccinated in a first for the country.
The incident took place in the Italian city of Florence, in the region of Tuscany, when the unnamed boy, who was 12 when his parents started arguing about the vaccine and initiated legal proceedings, would have to test for the virus every time he went out with friends.
His dad, also unnamed, has praised this latest ruling by a judge, ordering the boy to be vaccinated, saying: “My son is now very happy. Before, every time he had to go somewhere with friends, he had to take a swab.”
He added: “I did it for his safety and out of respect for others.”
The now-13-year-old boy’s mother was reportedly against vaccinating her children against COVID-19, while the boy’s father was in favour of vaccination. This led to a dispute between the two parties, with a judge left to decide.
Gianni Baldini, the lawyer for the boy, said: “It is the first case in Italy involving a child younger than 16.”
And the boy’s mother has reportedly been sent a warning stating that her two other children, aged six and nine, also need to be vaccinated.
There are reportedly three primary reasons that led the judge to give the father alone the power to decide whether or not his son should be administered the coronavirus vaccine.
Firstly, the boy has a medical certificate that certifies the absence of other pathologies. Secondly, the severity of the spread of the virus also impacted the judge’s decision, according to local media.
And lastly, the prevailing opinion of the scientific community regarding the efficacy of the vaccine also swayed the judge.
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: William McGee, Agency: Newsflash
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