Pa. lawmaker wants to give kids as young as 14 choice to get vaccinated without parent’s permission

PITTSBURGH — COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania continue to trend upward, with 3,500 new cases reported Friday.

That’s a 28% increase compared to last Friday, and a 361% increase from the 760 cases reported on this day last month.

[Here is how to stay informed about coronavirus updates from WPXI]

With students returning to the classroom, and efforts to control the spread, one Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to let kids as young as 14 get vaccinated without their parents’ permission.

There are a few pieces to the legislation, but that is the biggest one. As of now, if you are under 18 years old, you need your parents’ permission to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

But if Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Frankel’s proposed legislation is passed, teens as young as 14 years old could make the decision for themselves.

“Young people in particular are so exposed, they want to be social, they do jobs after school in the summer like amusement parks or grocery stores, they want to socialize with their friends,” Frankel said.

The vaccine is available for kids 12 and above — but minors need their parents to consent to them receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

“These are the bodies they are going to have live in for 60, 70 years, they should be entitled to make these decisions instead of these parents who may be subject to some of these conspiracy theories,” Frankel said.

Republican state Rep. Aaron Bernstine couldn’t disagree more. In a statement, he said in part, “these aren’t the decisions 8th graders should be making without the guidance of their parents.”

But Frankel feels they’re old enough.

“In these situations I think children are entirely capable of making a decision on what they perceive to be their best interest,” Frankel said.

The second part of the legislation says, “if parents refuse to get their child the vaccine, a yearly doctor visit should be required — to inform them of the dangers of not getting the vaccine.”

Rep. Frankel is formally introducing the bill on Monday.

Moderna vaccine may protect against delta variant better than Pfizer (NCD)