In a highly controversial decision, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that a family cannot sue a school district after their child was vaccinated against COVID-19 without parental consent. This ruling has provoked significant public outcry, with many arguing that the school should be held accountable for its actions.
The incident occurred in November 2021 when a child at Academy School mistakenly received a dose of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine after wearing another student’s name tag. Despite the father explicitly informing a school official that his child should not be vaccinated and the child’s verbal protest, the school proceeded with the vaccination. The error was later realized, and the school officials apologized to the family, who subsequently withdrew their child from the school.
The Vermont Supreme Court’s decision is based on the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, which provides liability immunity to certain “covered persons” during public health emergencies. The court ruled that the state and school officials involved are protected under this act, as vaccines are considered “covered countermeasures.”
Critics argue that this decision sets a dangerous precedent by allowing schools to evade responsibility for administering medical treatments without parental consent. They emphasize that the school should be accountable for ensuring that such errors do not occur and for upholding parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their children.
The court stated that to avoid dismissal on immunity grounds, plaintiffs would have needed to show that:
- At least one defendant was not a covered person,
- Some conduct was not causally related to administering a covered countermeasure,
- The substance injected was not a covered countermeasure, or
- There was no PREP Act declaration in effect at the time.
The ruling reaffirms a January 2023 state superior court decision, leaving many concerned about the implications for parental rights and the accountability of educational institutions in safeguarding children’s health.
