CBC News is not naming the couple so as not to identify their children. In December 2021, the mother applied for sole decision-making authority regarding her children’s COVID vaccination. The judge in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Estevan, Sask., found that the father “was opposed to vaccinations on religious grounds” but gave the mother authorization because it was in the “best interests of the children” to be vaccinated. The father then appealed the decision. In his affidavit, he said the children were already infected with COVID and therefore he personally believes they have a natural immunity to the disease. He also submitted two unverified medical studies that are not supported by evidence about the effectiveness of vaccines. Scientists say SARS-CoV-2 is capable re-infecting people again and again even if they have already had COVID. In the mother’s affidavit she said the children were not tested for antibodies to see if they have natural immunity. “Given that there is no evidence of the importance of having had COVID-19 to the question of whether vaccination is appropriate or necessary, it would be given little weight and therefore would not weigh decisively on an issue or have an effect on the outcome of hearing,” Court of Appeals Judge Jerome Tholl wrote in the ruling in late July. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal said the father’s personal conclusion that his children are naturally immune to COVID-19 after being infected cannot be accepted because he lacks medical experience. (Courts of Saskatchewan) The father’s “personal conclusion that the children are now naturally immune to COVID-19 cannot be accepted because he lacks the medical experience to offer such an opinion,” Tholl added. The judge also said the two medical studies submitted by the father “are not admissible because the authenticity and reliability of this evidence has not been sufficiently established.” This case is similar to another that happened last year involving a divorced Saskatoon couple. In this case, the judge decided a 13 year old girl must be vaccinated against COVID-19despite her mother’s legal opposition.
