Covid-19 and children: practical case on parental authorization and the vaccination certificate

Article published with the kind authorization of the Departmental Council of the Hauts-de-Seine Order of Doctors

Practical case: Vaccination against COVID-19 of a minor child

By Catherine Paley-Vincent, Associate lawyer and Camille Faour, Lawyer 

The context :

• A 13-year-old child is vaccinated against COVID-19. At the time of the injections, parental authorization was only fulfilled by the mother of the child, in the process of divorce.

• The father wishes to obtain his son's vaccination certificate from the vaccination center. On his AMELI account, the child appears as “unvaccinated”. He asks the head of the Center to access the AMELI account of his wife, the mother of the child. The head of the Center hesitates.

Two questions :

• Could the mother of the child thus have her son vaccinated without the consent of the father of the child?

• Can the father ask the doctor in charge of the vaccination center to find this vaccination certificate on the AMELI account of the mother of the child who has not given him permission to do so?

The answers :

• YES, vaccination against COVID-19 of a minor child is possible with the agreement of only one of his two parents

Since August 7, 2021, date of entry into force of the Law n ° 2021-1040 of August 5, 2021 relating to the management of the health crisis, a minor child aged 12 to 15 can be vaccinated alone against COVID-19 provided that at least one of his two parents or legal guardians has consented, by completing an authorization which will be kept by the practitioner.

Thus, the agreement of both parents or legal guardians, which was a condition sine qua non to administer the vaccine against COVID-19 to a minor patient, before the law of August 5, 2021, is no longer required, the agreement of only one being now sufficient.

Therefore, the mother of a minor child can decide on her own, and without obtaining the permission of the father of the child, to have her son vaccinated against COVID-19.

• YES, the doctor in charge of a vaccination center can look for the vaccination certificate of a minor child on his mother's AMELI account even though she has not consented to it.

Under article 371-1 of the Civil Code, parents who exercise parental authority over their minor child have the obligation to protect their health. They must be able to obtain medical information about their child from a doctor, jointly or separately.

Obtaining a vaccination certificate must be able to be considered as a “usual act” within the meaning of article 372-2 of the Civil Code. Each parent can therefore obtain communication, the other parent being presumed to have given their consent.

However, and to avoid this type of situation, the Health Insurance provides that a child under 16 can be attached to one of his parents or benefit from a double attachment, with both parents.

The connection request must be made to the health insurance organization of the parent (s) concerned on the cerfa form n ° 14445, when the child arrives at the home.

Consequently, the doctor in charge of a vaccination center can look for the vaccination certificate of a minor child on his mother's AMELI account without her having expressly consented to it.

• This concern of the doctor is now over since it is now possible for any parent of a minor child over 12 years of age who has completed their vaccination cycle, to access their vaccination certificate as follows:

• by downloading it from the Health Insurance teleservice, https://attestation-vaccin.ameli.fr, this route being privileged;
• by asking a health professional (doctor, pharmacist, nurse, midwife) who will directly access the AMELI account of the parent to which the child is attached since he can access one or the other;
• by requesting it, as a last resort, from the health insurance fund.

In this context, the doctor must be particularly vigilant to ensure that medical confidentiality is safeguarded vis-à-vis both parents by not providing them with any information other than this vaccination certificate.