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A six-month-old baby underwent heart surgery after a court intervened in the baby’s care, according to CNN.
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The parents postponed the operation because they did not want “blood contaminated by vaccination.”
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Dozens of protesters surrounded the hospital in support of the parents, according to the NZ Herald.
When parents refused to go through with open-heart surgery for their 6-month-old baby out of concern that the remnants of the COVID-19 vaccine would adversely affect the child, New Zealand courts stepped in and pushed life-saving surgery forward , reported CNN.
The baby, whose only identification is Baby W, had a life-threatening congenital heart defect, but — despite the urgency — the parents insisted on delaying his surgery until they found a donor without the COVID-19 vaccination, CNN added.
“We don’t want blood contaminated by vaccines. That’s the end of the deal – we’re okay with anything these doctors want to do,” the child’s father said, according to The Guardian.
With over 83% of the New Zealand population vaccinated against COVID-19, most of the blood needed for surgery would contain COVID antibodies.
“Almost all the blood in New Zealand will have Covid antibodies, so unless you’re going to refuse all the blood I can’t imagine how you can get around this,” said Professor Nikki Turner, the medical director of the Immunization Advisory at the University of Auckland. Centre, according to the NZ Herald.
“The next thing is that Covid antibodies by themselves are not going to be a problem in any way for the person receiving them, they are just going to provide the person with extra protection against Covid disease,” Turner added.
With doctors and parents unable to come to an agreement, New Zealand’s health service, Te Whatu Ora, filed an application with the Auckland High Court under the Care of Children Act at the end of November. They sought temporary custody of the child, allowing the operation to go ahead, according to The Guardian.
The surgery, which took place Friday, went “as well as hoped,” the parents’ lawyer Sue Grey, told Insider.
“He is still in PICU. His parents have been reunited with him and are staying with him around the clock,” she added.
The parents chose to spend a “peaceful time with their baby and support him during the operation until surgery,” Gray told The Guardian on Thursday.
Gray said the parents were dismissed as “conspiracy theorists” for their concerns, the NZ Herald reported.
On Friday, dozens of protesters surrounded the hospital to support the parents during the operation, according to CNN partner Radio New Zealand. They gathered with signs, one of which read “Do not experiment on our children” and another read “Support for Baby.”
“The chance of finding spike protein in donated blood is very small, and it will be in the picogram range if any,” the New Zealand Blood Service website said. “There is no evidence that this poses any risk to recipients,” it added.
According to CNN, the baby will remain under court custody until he is fully cured.
“The decision to petition the court is always made with the best interests of the child in mind and after extensive discussions with whānau [extended family]interim director of Te Whatu Ora, Dr Mike Shepherd, told the NZ Herald.
Read the original article on Insider
