The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and several community organisations have filed papers at the Pretoria High Court to stop the roll-out of the one dose of the Pfizer vaccine to children aged 12 to 17.
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said on Friday that 99,900 children in this age group had already been vaccinated and another 183,700 had registered to receive the vaccine, but the ACDP wants the court to issue an interdict to stop the roll-out to children in this category except where emergency authorisation is given by a doctor for a child with underlying conditions. The party is supported in its application by Free the Children – Save the Nation, the Caring Health Workers Coalition and the COVID Care Alliance.
Daily Maverick reports that in his founding affidavit, Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, ACDP leader, said the government was using children to create a shield to protect society from COVID-19. He claimed that the party had been “inundated” with pleas to intervene on behalf of people and “to defend their right to choose that they and their children not be forced to take into their bodies any substance, remedy or medication they do not approve of, fear or do not know the true efficacy or safety”.
He also said that the Health Department was relying on the Children’s Act to allow children to consent for themselves without their parents’ approval or involvement, “in circumstances where people are driven by fear and force of others and the vaccines are in fact being tested on the populace of the nation – something totally unheard of and otherwise inconceivable until now”.
Meshoe said the children’s vaccination roll-out can only be legal if it showed a clear benefit to children, but in South Africa’s case it was driven by a decision that the adult population would benefit from child vaccinations and children are being vaccinated “for the sake of others”.
In papers before court Meshoe quotes statistics from Stats SA to show that the rate of coronavirus infections among children aged 15 to 19 was 5.1/1,000 for girls and 3.4/1,000 for boys. Hospital admissions are 0.07/1,000 for girls and 0.04/100,000 for boys.
He noted the extremely low fatality rate from COVID-19 among children, with 331 deaths of children between 10 and 19 registered up to 28 October, and added that using children as a “shield” against the spread of the virus was totalitarian and to be rejected, especially as the medium and long-term risks of the vaccine are still not known.
Phaahla has acknowledged that there is a risk, particularly among young men, of developing mild myocarditis as a side effect of two doses of the vaccine and that this was why it was decided to limit children under 18 to one dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
John Taylor from Free the Children – Save the Nation said his organisation had lodged an internal appeal against the decision by medical regulatory authority SAPHRA to authorise the single shot of the Pfizer vaccine to teenagers, and was still awaiting the outcome. The appeal argued that scientific and medical evidence did not support the administration of the vaccine to youngsters.
Dr Clare Craig said excess deaths among young British men had shown a “significant” increase in mortality since the start of the vaccination programme for young people, between 16% and 47% above expected levels, adds the Daily Maverick report.
This, she said in an affidavit, cannot be dismissed without further investigation.
She added that myocarditis can have long term effects as it can damage the heart muscle and carry an increased risk of morbidity and that this side effect had been seen after only one dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
The Health Department has not yet filed court papers in this matter. According to papers before court, the application will be set down for hearing on 9 November.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Phaahla’s move on jabs for 12-year-olds without parental consent ruffles feathers
Pfizer vaccination linked to 3x high risk of myocarditis — Israel study
Healthy boys at greater risk from vaccination than COVID itself — US analysis