Colorado School District Closes COVID-19 Vaccine Sites After Students Get Shots Without Parents Present

A staff member grabs a vial of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Thornton, Colo., on March 6, 2021. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

A public school district in the southern suburb of Denver, Colorado, has shut down its on-campus COVID-19 vaccination clinics after videos of teenagers being allowed to get the vaccine without their parents present went viral on social media.

The first video was filmed inside a clinic at a high school in Littleton, allegedly by a 16-year-old student checking in for his appointment. When a clinic staff asks the student’s name and his birthday, he lies about his age and says he was born in 2001, which would make him 20 years old. The student asks if he needs to “show any ID,” to which he is told no.

After the person filming is told to sit down and wait for his turn to get the shot, he returns to the staff and asks if he can “opt out of this.” The staff preparing to administer the shot says he can “absolutely” leave, allowing him to walk away.

In the second video, the person filming is asked to provide a consent form after he tells staff members at the vaccination site he is 15. The person hands him a sheet of paper, the contents of which cannot be seen. When called up to get the shot, the person says he changes his mind and asks to leave. The staff preparing the shot agrees, telling him that his feelings are “completely valid.”

In Colorado, anyone under the age of 18 needs to be accompanied by a parent or guardian to get the COVID-19 vaccine, unless the consent has been shared with the vaccine provider by phone or through the provider’s online scheduling system prior to the appointment.

Following a social media outrage, Littleton Public Schools told parents that the health company that staffed the on-campus clinic didn’t follow the proper protocols, and that the school district will no longer host the clinic on its campus.

“We incorrectly assumed that all vaccination clinics in Colorado followed the same vaccination protocol as Children’s Hospital, requiring a parent to be present during a vaccination,” Superintendent Brian Ewert wrote in a message to parents. “Please know that LPS does not condone the administration of COVID vaccines or any other vaccines to minors without a parent present to provide consent.”

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, however, took issue with the people filming the videos. In a statement to Denver Post, the department said they believe the videos are part of an anti-vaccine scheme to shut down vaccination sites at public schools.

“We are concerned this is an intentional attempt to close down vaccine clinics,” a department spokesperson told the Post. “School clinics are an important way the state ensures access to COVID-19 vaccines in places that are convenient.”