New Zealand authorities this Wednesday took temporary custody of a baby whose parents avoided life-and-death surgery because the child was able to receive blood from donors vaccinated against covid-19.
The Auckland High Court has ordered that the six-month-old baby, identified only as “Baby W”, be placed under partial custody, which will allow for urgent surgery to correct a heart condition called pulmonary valve stenosis.
The surgery was postponed because the parents did not accept a blood transfusion from a donor who had received a messenger RNA vaccine, the technology used in Pfizer and Moderna’s anti-Covid vaccines.
“The overriding question is whether the proposed treatment is in (the baby’s) best interest,” the court said in a statement.
The child is now under “court medical care” until the “end of surgery” and his recovery, at the latest by the end of January.
Parents will remain guardians “for all other purposes” and will “be kept informed of the nature and progress of Baby W’s condition and treatment,” the ruling says.
The country’s health authorities have rejected the parents’ request to use unvaccinated blood.
New Zealand does not differentiate between donations from people who have or have not been vaccinated against covid, as there is no additional risk from using blood from people who have received the vaccine.
Source: DN
