School leaders have warned about being targeted by hoax Covid vaccine consent letters, which aim to spread anti-vaccine messages to parents in England.
Head teachers have been sent a “consent checklist”, under a fake NHS logo, along with a letter telling them to share this with parents.
But the checklist includes a series of negative claims about the risks of vaccinations to young people.
Head teachers’ leaders say the hoax letters are “massively unhelpful”.
“We would appeal for those behind these fake consent forms to stop circulating them,” said Julie McCulloch of the ASCL head teachers’ union.
CONSENT FORM HERE COVID-19_Consent_Form_Checklist (1)
‘Confusion’
The letters sent to schools are presented as being a consent form with information to be sent to parents ahead of pupils being given Covid vaccinations.
Below an “NHS Vaccines” logo, it includes claims such as the vaccine being a risk for “strokes, blindness, deafness, clotting, miscarriages, anaphylaxis and cardiovascular disorders”.
It appears from social media that some parents have already been sent the letter, after schools had been tricked into sharing them.
“Today we have a ‘consent checklist’ which seems almost kinda like it’s designed to put kids off?,” said one parent on Twitter – with a follow-up that the school had been in touch again to withdraw the letter.
Dr Jonathan Leach, NHS England medical director for Covid immunisation, told confused parents on Twitter that this was “not a legitimate NHS form”.
Read More: Schools warn about hoax anti-vaccine letters
