The Washington, D.C., city council has passed a bill that would allow children as young as 11 to consent to vaccines without their parents’ knowledge or approval.
The only criteria for receiving a vaccine would be for a doctor to decide that the child is capable of “informed consent.” If the child decides to get a vaccine, the billing would circumvent the parents and go directly to the child’s insurance plan.
While The Washington Post mentioned that this might especially apply to the HPV vaccine, which is normally given at around age 11, the news agency also said that “the hope of an imminent coronavirus vaccine gave the bill new urgency.”
The bill still has another round of voting to go through, plus the mayor’s signature, before it becomes law.