Teen Runs Away After Anti-Vaxxer Mom Prevents Her From Getting COVID-19 Vaccine

A 14-year-old girl in New Zealand allegedly ran away from a vaccination center over the weekend and passed up on her COVID-19 jab after her mother expressed opposition to the vaccine.

The girl was dropped off by her father at a vaccination center located in a mall in Birkenhead Saturday after she agreed to get vaccinated the day prior, The New Zealand Herald reported.

The father, however, discovered his daughter had gone missing upon returning to the mall, according to the newspaper.

"I had a funny feeling something wasn't right, I looked everywhere for her but she had gone. I kept my cool and stayed rational because I know how the system works," the father was quoted as saying by the outlet.

After alerting police regarding the disappearance, the father was later contacted by her daughter after he sent her a text message.

"I texted 'Where are you love?' She replied 'I can't get vaccinated because mom won't let me go back to her house,'" the man recalled.

The teen explained that her mother, who is the man's ex-wife, told her she would no longer be allowed to go back to her mom's place — where her little brother lives — if she gets vaccinated.

"My ex-wife is worried about the risks and long-term effects. I am furious she has instilled these 'crazy' ideas into my daughter's head," the man said.

The girl allegedly understood the importance of getting vaccinated because of her father's pre-existing medical conditions and compromised immunity.

"If she was 3 years old, I'd understand you'd probably need both parents to agree but she understands what it entails. She's not a dummy and can make decisions for herself. I told her there could be side effects like a sore arm or flu-like symptoms so she understood and was happy. She went there willingly," the father explained.

The teen has since returned home after police intervened.

The man contacted the COVID-19 hotline following the incident for clarification on consent, and he was told by a health worker that "a parent or a guardian can give consent to get vaccinated."

Lawyers pointed out that a minor's day-to-day guardian does not have sole authority to determine certain issues, such as vaccinations, and that disagreements between parties must be brought to a family court.

"The court determines the issue based on the welfare and the best interests of the child. Their view and wishes would become relevant through their own lawyer and be given appropriate weight but not the sole determinative factor," family law specialist Fiona Mackenzie, of Mackenzie-Elvin Law, said.

"If a parent has declined to provide consent to a child being vaccinated, then the other parent is not able to proceed any further with that vaccination and it would be extremely inappropriate to do so," another one of the firm's lawyers, Rebecca Savage, added.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said in a statement that "under New Zealand law, children under the age of 16 years may give of withhold consent to healthcare treatment, so long as they are competent to do so," according to the report.

"It is the role of the healthcare professional to decide whether a child is competent," the spokesperson noted.

Around 3,328,268 people in New Zealand have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 2,018,305 have received two doses, government data showed. Over 600 per 1,000 people, aged between 12-15 and 16-19, have received their first dose, according to the data.