Students at the Barack Obama Global Prep Academy in south Los Angeles have reportedly received the coronavirus vaccine without the knowledge of or consent of parents. One of the parents, Maribel Duarte, told NBC Channel 4 in LA that her 13-year-old son received the vaccine before she knew anything about it.
"The lady who gave him the shot and signed the paper [vaccination card] was the one who told my son 'Please do not say anything – I don't want to get in trouble,'" Duarte said. The mom herself is vaccinated, but said it's different with her son because he has underlying medical conditions that concern her.
Sharon McKeeman is founder of the anti-mask, anti-mandate group Let Them Breathe.
"And the other side of it is L.A. Unified [School District] is using rewards that specifically target young people – donuts and pizza and other prizes," McKeeman tells AFN. "This should be a decision that families are making."
In an interview with the NBC affiliate, attorney Jennifer Kennedy pointed out that the school district doesn't have legal authority to do what it's doing – and that, in fact, minors in California cannot consent to vaccinations.
McKeeman argues schools need to be held accountable for overstepping their authority.
"The school districts that aren't doing what's best for our children and aren't willing to dialogue? There needs to be legal action to hold them accountable," she states. "And we need to show them we're serious by actually carrying through with the legal action."
NBC Channel 4 further reports Obama Prep school officials threaten that students who don't get the shot or who don't have a legal exemption by January 10 will be forced back into virtual, online learning.
Los Angeles Unified School District is the second-largest in the U.S. It claims that as of the Thanksgiving break, 80% of the eligible students at Obama Prep had received the COVID injection.
