Obama academy vaccinated child without consent, mother claims

A California mother is claiming that Los Angeles’ Barack Obama Global Prep Academy gave her son a Covid-19 vaccine without her consent, bribing the child with incentives like pizza.

“The lady that gave him the shot and signed the paper told my son, ‘Please don't say anything. I don’t want to get in trouble,’” Maribel Duarte told NBC Los Angeles this week. Her 13-year-old son attends the school. 

Duarte said she discovered her son had a vaccination card one day, showing he’d received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, without her being informed. Los Angeles schools have mandated that all students aged 12 and older be vaccinated by January 10. Duarte has said she is vaccinated, but she wanted to refrain from getting her son vaccinated as he has asthma and allergy issues. 

A spokesperson for the district did not confirm the incident with Duarte’s son, but confirmed that incentives are being offered to students to get jabbed at school. The program through which these incentives are offered is called the Safe Schools to Safe Steps Incentive Program, which offers rewards to “families who upload proof of their vaccine, have an approved medical exemption, or have conditional admissions.”

Duarte and her attorney say they are attempting to reverse the vaccine mandate for the Los Angeles school district. 

The California mother’s claims have caused concern among vaccine mandate critics on social media, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) blasting the accusations as “appalling.”

According to the district, over 80% of eligible students are vaccinated against Covid-19. Students who fail to meet the vaccine requirement by January will be forced to return to virtual learning.