Unvaccinated dad temporarily loses right to see 12-year-old child unless he gets Covid jab

Not ‘in the child’s best interest to have contact with their father,’ judge rules

A father in Quebec, Canada has temporarily lost the right to see his 12-year-old child because he isn’t vaccinated.

A judge in the province ruled that it wasn’t in the child’s “best interest” to see the parent after the father requested to extend his visiting time during the holiday season.

A family law expert told the Le Devoir paper that it’s the first case of a parent being banned from seeing their child because of their vaccination status.

At the end of December, the judge decided that the father would be prohibited from seeing the 12-year-old until February unless he chooses to get the required shots. The judge said he wanted to temporary suspension to be as short as possible.

The mother opposed the father’s request to extend his visiting time during the holiday season. She told the court that she recently discovered that he was unvaccinated, that he had made anti-vaccine social media posts, and that he has criticised public health measures.

While the 12-year-old has been vaccinated, the mother lives with her partner and two other children who are too young to get the jabs, according to BBC News.

The judge said it was not “in the child’s best interest to have contact with their father” during the recent spike in cases of Covid-19 in the French-speaking province.

According to federal vaccination data, more than 85 per cent of Quebec residents had received at least one dose by 1 January. About 12.8 per cent of people in the province haven’t been vaccinated. Despite these figures, the province makes up almost a third of all hospitalisations.

The province has also suffered the highest number of deaths related to Covid in the country.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced on Tuesday that those who are not vaccinated would have to pay an additional health tax.

He said those who haven’t received their first dose would have to pay a “contribution” that would be “significant”.

“I think right now it’s a question of fairness for the 90 per cent of the population who made some sacrifices,” Mr Legault said. “I think we owe them this kind of measure.”

The Quebec government said last week that they would require proof of vaccination to access government liquor and cannabis stores.

The second curfew of the pandemic has also been put in place, running from 10pm until 5am every day.

As of Tuesday, 12,028 had died due to Covid-19 in Quebec.

Among those in intensive care because of Covid-19 in the province, 45 per cent are unvaccinated, according to provincial data.

Greeks over the age of 60 are now also required to pay a fee if they’re unvaccinated – €100 (£85, $113) for every month that passes until they get the jab.

In Singapore, unvaccinated patients have to pay for their care if they fall ill.