New Zealand: Your child needs emergency surgery but they object to receiving blood from a donor who has been vaccinated against covid-19

An unusual legal battle takes place New Zeland. A four month old baby should be emergency surgery due to a heart problem, but his parents who object to the ongoing surgery with the blood from a donor vaccinated against coronavirus.

In this context, the New Zealand High Court has left until this Tuesday the judgment of the trial whose sentence will determine whether the minor will intervene immediately or if his parents will agree with him. according to the newspaper herald of New Zealand, Judge Ian Gault’s decision will be known this afternoon.

In this case, the Public Department of Health (Te Whatu Ora) has appealed the Child Welfare Law to request the protection of the child, who suffers the narrowing of a heart valveto urgently undergo surgery.

While acknowledging the urgency of the operation, the parents of the minor, who have not been identified and have received the support of a hundred anti-vax advocates gathered outside the court, refuse to allow the use of plasma of a donor who has been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Possible scenarios after the sentence

If the court rules in favor of the Department of Health, parents can appeal the decision, even though they probably wouldn’t have time because the child would be operated on immediatelyas reported by Radio New Zealand (RZN).

In case the parents winthey can potentially ask for a direct donation, but experts such as hematologist Jim Faed consider this procedure unsafe, especially in donor screening.

In addition, the public body NZ Blood, which coordinates blood donations and supplies plasma to hospitals, it may refuse to separate the blood of the vaccinated and the unvaccinated against the coronavirus because there is no scientific basis for demonstrating that it poses a risk to health.

The urgency of the operation

Public Health Department attorney Paul White noted that the child’s cardiologists warned him the patient is suffering an injury due to the delay of the operation due to the accumulation of blood in the damaged valve.

“You are under incredible stress”he said, and insisted that this child, who was in the courtroom in his mother’s arms, remained hospitalized.

The lawyer stressed that the priority is to consider what is best for the child and recalled that his parents had previously consented to the child receiving a blood transfusion.

Volunteer anti-vaccine donors

For her part, attorney Sue Grey, who represents the child’s parents, supported him there are a number of unvaccinated donors who are willing to donate bloodreferring to some of the 150 anti-vaccine protesters gathered outside the courthouse.

“(The baby) is getting better. His heart is stable, he’s gaining weight and he’s happy,” the lawyer said, suggesting that the trial could be delayed by a few days to get the blood his parents requested.

NZ Blood specifies on its website that during the collection it does not ask people to indicate whether they are vaccinated against covid-19 and that there is no evidence that the blood of vaccinated people poses an additional risk.

Furthermore, patients cannot choose their donors in New Zealand, where more than 90% of the population over the age of 12 has received the full course of the vaccine.

With information from EFE.