A New Zealand couple who are adamantly refusing to let doctors use vaccinated blood to perform open heart surgery on their baby boy has been forced to accept that some ‘jabbed’ blood may have to be used, despite their own beliefs that vaccinated blood is tainted.
The little boy has severe pulmonary valve stenosis, meaning he has a narrow heart valve, and requires urgent surgery involving the use of donated blood.
Lawyer Sue Grey said the couple, who cannot be named to protect the identity of their child, are realistic that blood products from vaccinated donors may have to be used in the baby’s surgery, but will ‘insist’ the bulk of the blood comes from unvaccinated donors.
‘They’re not happy to use any vaxxed blood, but I think they’re realistic,’ Ms Grey told Stuff. ‘If the bulk of the blood could come from an unvaccinated source, that would remove an identified risk.’
The parents of a four-month-old baby are being ‘realistic’ about the type of donated blood that might be used during the life-saving surgery (stock image)
New Zealand’s national health agency Te Whatu Ora has taken the parents to Auckland’s High Court in the hopes temporary custody of the child can be transferred to state so consent can be given to use vaccinated blood during the surgery.
The parents are concerned blood products from the NZ Blood Service would be ‘tainted’ and say they have blood from 20 unvaccinated donors.
Ms Grey said she had been ‘flooded’ by offers from other donors but that NZ Blood were refusing to budge in fear of setting a precedence.
‘They can do it, but they don’t want to do it. They don’t believe there’s any reason to. I think they’re afraid of a precedent effect,’ she said.
The lawyer is now considering whether the NZ Blood Service can be cut from the equation entirely with negotiations to continue solely with the hospital.
‘My understanding is, as a matter of their best practices … they go through NZ Blood, but we are hearing of cases, certainly overseas, where there are opportunities to do it through other routes,’ she said.
Ms Grey added that the family were remaining ‘calm’ throughout the ordeal and that the baby’s mother was a midwife who had done a ‘huge amount of research’ and had been proactively seeking out blood donors.
The parents are concerned blood products from the NZ Blood Service would be ‘tainted’ and say they have blood from 20 unvaccinated donors (stock image)
The couple fronted Auckland’s High Court earlier this week, holding their baby boy as the judge set an urgent hearing for next Tuesday.
Representing Te Whatu Ora, lawyer Paul White said the life-saving surgery would have been completed several weeks ago in normal circumstances.
He said the hospital’s application to the court had been made in the best interests of the young patient and was medically safe.
Ms Grey said there was no reason why Te Whatu Ora wasn’t considering her clients’ proposal to use unvaccinated blood as a solution.
The baby’s mother told reporters outside the courtroom on Wednesday she had attended in person so the judge could see her baby.
She said she had refused the unvaccinated blood because she was responsible for her child and said ‘so many’ people were rallying behind her.
‘Kiwis are amazing, people I don’t know are showing so much love,’ she said.
Over 100 anti-vaxxer protesters gathered outside Auckland’s High Court on Wednesday, holding posters that read ‘It’s not about health, it’s about control’.
A woman demonstrating outside the court said the case shouldn’t go ahead and told reporters it was ‘stressful on the parents and on the baby’.
Over 100 anti-vaxxer protesters gathered outside Auckland’s High Court holding posters that read ‘It’s not about health, it’s about control’ (pictured, Auckland protestors in January)
Representing state health service Te Whatu Ora, lawyer Paul White said the life-saving surgery would have been completed several weeks ago in normal circumstances (stock image)
The New Zealand Blood Service website states blood is not divided between vaccinated and unvaccinated donors as it is filtered during processing.
It states there is no evidence that using blood from a vaccinated person poses any risk to recipients and that any traces of the Covid-19 vaccine was broken down and would not be transferred to patients.
‘All donated blood also gets filtered during processing, so any trace amounts that may still be present poses no risk to recipients,’ it said.
Heart stenosis is when the heart’s valves don’t open properly meaning pressure and blood can build up, reducing blood flow and putting strain on the heart.
According to Healthdirect, one in 4,000 people are born with an aortic valve that is shaped differently which can become hardened or scarred as they get older, therefore increasing their chances of developing heart stenosis.
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