A Dutch court announced the verdict that a 12-year-old boy have the right to get a Covid jab so that he can visit his dying grandmother despite his vaccine-sceptic dad’s objections.

The unnamed boy in the city of Groningen argued that getting the vaccine would reduce his chances of passing on an infection to his grandmother. It is considered to be one of the first cases of its kind in the Netherlands,. Children aged 12 to 17 in the Netherlands can choose to be vaccinated with permission from both parents. In this case, the boy’s parents are divorced and his mother agreed.

District court Judge Bart Tromp granted permission for the boy to be vaccinated due to the “interests involved in vaccination, in particular the interest of this minor”. He ordered that the boy be given the shot “shortly” because his interests were more important than any possible appeal by the father’s lawyers.