New Zealand health authorities have launched a custody battle over a child whose parents are blocking a life-and-death surgery because blood donors may have received Covid vaccines.
The government has sought urgent custody in Auckland High Court in a case that has sparked local outcry and highlights the power of disinformation.
The four-month-old, whose name has been withheld in court documents, needs “emergency surgery” to correct a heart problem known as pulmonary valve stenosis, the mother said.
The surgical procedure was delayed because the parents do not want him to receive blood from donors who have received mRNA vaccines.
The health authorities rejected the parents’ request.
The New Zealand blood bank does not distinguish between donations from vaccinated and unvaccinated people in the face of covid as there is no additional risk in using this type of blood.
The authorities wanted to obtain partial custody of the child, leaving the burden of non-medical care to the parents, and allow the proceedings to continue.
New Zealand’s health authority said it had appealed to the court in the “best interests of the child”.
Some 150 anti-vaccine protesters gathered outside the Auckland courthouse on Tuesday to support the family.
New Zealand’s severe response to the outbreak of the coronavirus has been seen as a success story around the world given low death rates, even before the vaccination campaign began.
But continued mobility restrictions, lockdowns and other restrictions have raised concerns about the erosion of civil liberties and led to the emergence of a small but vocal anti-covid and anti-vaccination group.
