The challenge argues the vaccine is novel biotechnology and comes with potentially life-changing risks
A case was heard in the Court of Appeal on Wednesday 22 September requesting an injunction to halt the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines in children aged 12-15. The case has been brought by lawyers at Jackson Osborne.
Two children aged 13 and 16 are bringing a claim for Judicial Review challenging the MHRA’s authorisations of COVID-19 vaccines in children. They are doing so on the basis that the authorisations were unlawful and because the benefits of vaccination do not outweigh the risks in this age group. The vaccines were explicitly not recommended by the JCVI for this cohort.
The claimants have asked the High Court to grant an injunction pausing the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccinations to children pending determination of their earlier application for Judicial Review. On two occasions the High Court refused to even hear the injunction application and so the children have appealed to the Court of Appeal. At a hearing live-streamed to the general public the Court of Appeal refused to grant the injunction, finding that the balance of convenience fell in favour of the government.
The next hearing of the Claimants’ application for judicial review was held yesterday. The challenge included evidence from an expert witness arguing that the vaccine is novel biotechnology and comes with associated risks such as potentially life-threatening heart inflammation – myocarditis.
Stephen Jackson, the lawyer who is leading the case has said:
“This vaccine has been authorised for emergency use but the emergency is long over and for children there has never been an emergency. Healthy children do not benefit from this vaccination as children are not at risk from COVID-19 however they are at risk from its serious side effects such as paralysis (Guillain-Barré syndrome), myocarditis and potential long-term effects which we cannot yet know about.”
The court has to decide whether the claimants can have a judicial review and if they can whether the vaccine programme should be stopped for 12-15 year olds in the meantime. Judgement will be handed down by the court this Friday afternoon.
