Children at Barack Obama Global Prep Academy in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) were apparently vaccinated against the coronavirus without the consent or knowledge of parents, according to a mother.
“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,'” Maribel Duarte, the mother of a 13-year-old boy who was clandestinely vaccinated, told NBC4.
According to Duarte, her son was offered pizza in exchange for the shot.
But attorney Jennifer Kennedy, who is fighting the school district’s vaccine mandate in court, contends children cannot consent to receiving a vaccine, saying, “you [LAUSD] don’t have the legal authority.”
According to NBC4, “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, while being pro-vaccine and vaccinated herself, says she was uncomfortable with the move because her son “has problems with asthma and allergy problems.”
“It hurt to know he got a shot without my permission, without knowing and without signing any papers for him to get the shot,” Duarte told NBC4.
LAUSD Interim Superintendent Meagan K. Reilly said in the September mandate announcement, “The science is clear – vaccinations are an essential part of protection against COVID-19. The COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and requiring eligible students to be vaccinated is the strongest way to protect our school community.”
“Our goal is to keep kids and teachers as safe as possible, and in the classroom,” LAUSD school board Vice President Nick Melvoin said. “A medical and scientific consensus has emerged that the best way to protect everyone in our schools and communities is for all those who are eligible to get vaccinated. This policy is the best way to make that happen.”
One school board member added, “we continue to battle a deadly global pandemic. If requiring the vaccine for eligible students will continue to keep them safe, why not do it? Students need stability, support, and to be in a classroom learning with their peers.”
According to NBC4, LAUSD announced that, as of Thanksgiving, 80 percent of students at Obama Prep had received the vaccine. It also warned that “those who don’t get it and don’t have a legal exemption, will be forced back into virtual, online learning,” despite the mental, physical, and other developmental issues that accompany virtual learning.
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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