Cheshire East decides on a case-by-case basis whether to give the COVID vaccine to children in its care who do not have consent from their birth parents.
In her address to the council’s subsidiary committee on parental involvement, Annemarie Parker explained that the council sought the consent of the parents of 12- to 15-year-old children to be cared for.
“Some parents don’t wish to consent in the case of a small number of children,” she said. We have managed them individually, and we are currently going through risk assessments to determine whether it is in their best interests to receive that vaccine as corporate parents.”
The member of the local government for Poynton East and Pott Shrigley (Cllr Jos Saunders) said he was concerned that some frontline workers who cared for children were not themselves vaccinated.
“Our frontline staff has been double-vaccinated to the extent of 90 per cent and they are under our watchful eye. How does Cheshire East’s current policy on employee vaccinations work?” she inquired.
“I just worry about children who may be at risk, or may be exposed to the coronavirus, etc. What can we do about it?”
According to Ms Parker, the council tried to motivate employees to get vaccinated but could not compel them to do so.
“We highly encourage individuals to get the vaccine, but at times medical reasons make them unable to get it,” she added.
“Personal choice can sometimes be the deciding factor. We sometimes have employees who are agency members and we are not in the same position to encourage them like we do our employees.”
Councilman David Marren of Shavington, Indiana, asked, “Why doesn’t that apply when it comes to agency employees? Basically they are advised, don’t send anyone out until they’ve been immunized, since this is perfectly legal, and our purchasing power allows us to enforce it.”
Upon that, Ms Parker responded: “At this moment, there is an acute shortage of social workers across the country, and we are trying to recruit agency workers.
“Secondly, we can’t compel people to get the vaccine, because that would violate their human rights.”
Vaccines help to protect you against harmful diseases before they infect you. They are simple, safe, and effective. It strengthens your immune system and helps offer defence to specific infections by making use of your body’s natural defences.
Just as in the case of exposure to disease, vaccines train your immune system to produce antibodies. Vaccines, however, do not cause diseases or put you at risk for their complications as they contain only killed or weakened forms of bacteria or viruses.
