Barring 12- to 17-year-olds from getting COVID-19 vaccines will lead to further academic interruptions and curtail efforts to limit the virus’s spread, according to public interest law group Section27 in an amicus curiae application, following the African Christian Democratic Party’s bid to interdict the vaccine roll-out to adolescents.
The ACDP, as well as the recently formed groups Free the Children, Save the Nation, the Caring Healthcare Workers Coalition and COVID Care Alliance, have applied for an urgent interdict to halt the roll-out of vaccines to adolescents, claiming there is no reason to vaccinate children and that the vaccine can be harmful to young people.
However, Prof Thomas Moultrie, director of the Centre for Actuarial Research at the University of Cape Town, said: “Adolescents and young adults are an important vector for transmission”. In the past three months, adolescents aged 10 to 19 have accounted for the highest proportion of positive test results, suggesting they are a key group in the ongoing spread of the virus.
Daily Maverick reports that by 29 November, 445,401 children between 12 and 17 had received the vaccine after SAHPRA approved one shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab for the age group in mid-October. The ACDP is appealing against SAHPRAʼs decision and wants the court to grant an interdict in the meantime.
Section27 is applying to intervene as amicus curiae in the ACDPʼs case against the health minister, the Health Departmentʼs director-general and SAHPRA.
“Vaccines are safe, passing all the testing measures done for any other medicines. The risks of vaccination are much lower than the risks of COVID-19. Vaccinating adolescents will help alleviate the strain on the schooling and healthcare systems, and promote learnersʼ rights to basic education, health, equality and dignity,” said Section27 attorney Zeenat Sujee.
In its court application, Section27 outlines the significant interruptions faced by pupils during the pandemic as schools were first closed during the lockdown, and then many were forced to implement rotational learning schedules to comply with distancing regulations.
It quotes the National Income Dynamics Study — Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (Nids-Cram), which found that between March 2020 and June 2021, primary school children lost 70% to 100% of learning, relative to the 2019 class. Students from low-income families at fee-free schools felt the impact most, as they could not easily move to online learning.
Interruptions in schooling means students will struggle as they progress to higher grades, with little chance of being able to repeat due to new enrolments. Section27 also outlines how such interruptions have further adverse consequences, such as increasing levels of hunger.
More than 9m children use the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), which provides meals to poor students. Despite a court order, evidence suggests the government failed to implement a programme to continue providing meals to qualifying pupils while they were not at school during the lockdown and at home during rotational scheduling, says the Daily Maverick report.
The Nids-Cram survey estimates that 400,000 children have been going hungry during the pandemic.
“Put simply, nothing short of a return to some degree of normality, with all learners attending school full-time, will see the NSNP being implemented on the same scale, and to the same extent, as happened before the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Section27 executive director Umunyana Rugege in the court papers.
The ACDP and other applicants claim there is mounting evidence that children who receive the vaccine are vulnerable to injuries and death, but Section27 dismisses the claims.
“Their two supporting affidavits come from doctors in the US and UK who have been widely discredited, and have no expertise in virology, immunology, epidemiology or public health,” said Section27 in a press statement.
The case is expected to be heard in the High Court in Pretoria soon. The government is opposing the ACDPʼs application.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
ACDP applies for interdict to halt vaccine roll-out to children aged 12-17
Phaahla’s move on jabs for 12-year-olds without parental consent ruffles feathers
Doctor’s lobby group joins ACDP’s urgent application to halt child vaccinations
Healthy boys at greater risk from vaccination than COVID itself — US analysis