Parent Outraged, but TCI Health Minister says no COVID vaccine was given to child

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, March 11, 2022 – “To be abundantly clear, at no point has pediatric doses of the Covid-19 vaccine been administered or made available to children without parental consent.”

That was the word from TCI Health Minister, Jamell Robinson in response to outrage being expressed on social media by a parent.  The parent claimed her child was vaccinated without her consent and feared it was the COVID vaccine with which her child was jabbed.

Minister Robinson said the routine visits of Public Health at schools is an annual occurrence and parents had to consent in order for the HPV and DTP shots to be administered, however, if the child was missing any other shots, they would have been made available.

In this case, there seems to have been some disconnect as the mother claims her 11 year old was questioned on medical history and given two shots without her permission.

The minister believes there was only the initial announcement of the Public Health team visit by the school and unfortunately, no follow-up reminder to parents before the health check.

Magnetic Media spoke to two other schools about this public health department activity; Mills Institute said their parents were well informed and the shots were not COVID-19.

The other school, Precious Treasures International, informed that they do not allow shots to be administered on campus, that “school is supposed to be a place for pleasant memories and parents should be present whenever vaccines are given to children.”

While Turks and Caicos has confirmed 5-11 year olds for the Covid-19 vaccine, as yet, no pediatric doses of the vaccine have been shared with TCI by the UK.  In other words, there are no children’s doses of the coronavirus vaccine are in-country.