G. Shelley Maturin, the lawyer representing Ravain, said in a statement that her client's son was given the vaccine without parental notification. "The egregious and reckless actions of Ochsner and East Jefferson High School went well beyond any legal or moral bounds and at a minimum, constitute a battery upon the minor child," he said.
He added that the actions of the school should "shock the conscience of all citizens of Louisiana," and that every legal avenue should be pursued to ensure that justice will be served.
Ochsner Health, the firm that administered the vaccine at the high school, released a statement, apologizing for the lack of parental consent and saying that they will take measures to ensure that similar incidents will not happen again.
"We have procedures in place to ensure that all policies are followed; however, in this instance, this did not occur. We have taken immediate action to review our on-site vaccination policies and to ensure that these policies will be strictly enforced moving forward," Dr. Robert Hart, chief medical officer for Ochsner Health said.
He also stated that the healthcare provider will be revising their school vaccination program to ensure that no similar incidents will happen.
Jefferson Parish School Board spokesperson Paris Vinnett said that the Ochsner Health officials have been informed that they are conducting a thorough investigation to ensure that it was an isolated incident and that it won't happen again.
"Our standard operating procedures include obtaining written consent from a parent or legal guardian prior to a student receiving the vaccine during an event conducted at one of our schools. We will continue to work with Ochsner Health and our other healthcare partners to ensure vaccination events conducted on our campuses follow this process," he said.
It remains unclear what safeguards the school district, school administration or Ochsner personnel had in place to ensure that the parental permission signatures for vaccination were valid.
Unethical vaccinations occurring elsewhere
This is not the first time that children have been vaccinated with no parental consent.
A family also spoke out after Walgreens injected their 4-year-old and 5-year-old children with the COVID-19 vaccine against their will. The children were reportedly jabbed with the vaccine in Evansville, Indiana, against the will of the parents.
Alexandra Price, the mother of the children, said: "Walgreens called me to say there was a mix-up. We did not receive the flu shot. And I'm like, 'Well, what did we get?' And he was like, we got the COVID-19 shot, and instantly, I was like, 'Well what does this mean for my kids?'"
While Alexandra and her husband Joshua Price also received the COVID-19 vaccine against their will, the fact that it was administered to their children is what is especially immoral and illegal in the situation. The children suffered heart problems and fevers due to the "accidental" vaccination. (Related: Study: 397 Children diagnosed with heart inflammation after receiving Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.)
"The cardiologist said our daughter was having higher blood pressure than she would like. And Lucas, our son, was having tachycardia," the mother of the children said.
The family's attorney shared copies of what he said were vaccination cards for the family. The cards showed that children born in 2016 and 2017 were given the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, which is not yet authorized to be used in children younger than 12. While the company is currently seeking approval for children as young as five, the dosage would be about a third of the adult dose.
Walgreens released a statement that said the company couldn't share specifics due to privacy laws.
"In general, such instances are rare and Walgreens takes these matters very seriously. In the event of any error, our first concern is always our patients’ well-being. Our multi-step vaccination procedure includes several safety checks to minimize the chance of human error and we have reviewed this process with our pharmacy staff in order to prevent such occurrences," Walgreens said.
Get more news and updates about the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine in children at Pandemic.news.
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