Compulsory Vaccinations of Minors in International Law as Discussed in Vavřička v the Czech Republic—Implications for South Africa

Abstract

On 8 April 2021, the European Court of Human Rights delivered judgment in a case involving a possible violation of the right to respect for private life. This was in the case of Vavřička and Others v the Czech Republic in which the general legal duty to vaccinate children under nine years of age against diseases was challenged. This was the first judgment of the court on compulsory childhood vaccination. This judgment is very relevant to the current global legal, political, scientific, and economic climate, in light of the ongoing rollout of vaccines against the COVID-19 virus. The case naturally invokes the question of whether enforced childhood vaccinations violate the child’s right to privacy and the child’s and the parent’s freedom of religion. A further and more piquant question that flows from this enquiry is whether such compulsory childhood vaccinations in the South African context would violate the South African Constitution. Although these questions are posed in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic, this article is not about the compulsory vaccination of adults. It is only limited to the compulsory vaccination of children.