CHCH TV: COVID Vaccines and Co-Parenting - Featuring Alyssa Bach, Shulman & Partners

As vaccine research expands to younger age groups, many parents are weighing whether to enroll children in clinical trials and what vaccination could look like in the months ahead. In a CHCH TV segment about Moderna’s kid vaccine study, the discussion touched on both medical considerations and the real-life decisions families face. Near the end of the report, Alyssa Bach, Associate Lawyer at Shulman & Partners LLP, spoke about a different challenge her office expects to see more of: separated and divorced parents disagreeing on what is best for their children. She noted that COVID has already created multiple layers of parenting conflict, and that vaccination decisions add another high-stakes issue for co-parents to navigate.

“First we were dealing with parenting time and implementation because of the COVID restrictions. Then we were looking at, do we send children back to school because of COVID, and now we’re looking at the vaccine.”
— Alyssa Bach, Associate Lawyer, Shulman & Partners LLP

The segment focused on Moderna’s expectation that thousands of children aged six months to 12 years will participate in its vaccine testing, with Canadian locations not yet chosen. The report noted that parents could check whether their child qualifies for the KidCOVE study and highlighted that, for some families, the idea of clinical trials involving children can feel intimidating.

Toward the end of the segment, Alyssa addressed the family law impact that can follow as vaccination becomes part of parenting decisions. Alyssa noted that some parents are worried, and her firm expects to hear from divorced people who disagree about what is best for their children. Her comments placed vaccination disputes in the broader timeline of pandemic-related conflict that many separated families have already experienced.

Alyssa explained that this has not been a single issue, but a series of evolving questions that co-parents have had to work through as public health rules changed. She described how earlier conflict often centered on parenting time and how to implement schedules under COVID restrictions. As the pandemic continued, disagreements shifted to whether children should return to school in person. With vaccines becoming part of the conversation, Alyssa noted that the next phase is likely to bring a new set of disputes, particularly for parents who have different views on safety, risk, or public health measures.

Her remarks highlight a practical reality for separated families: parenting decisions during the pandemic have often required repeated adjustments, and each major change can create new pressure points between households. Vaccination decisions, in particular, can become especially difficult because they are closely tied to a child’s health, schooling, and participation in activities, and because parents may feel strongly about their positions.

While the segment primarily reported on the study itself, Alyssa’s contribution underscored that the downstream effects of pandemic policy changes can show up in family law files. For co-parents, it is a reminder that disagreement is not only possible, but predictable, and that planning for how decisions will be made can help reduce conflict as new issues arise.

Watch the full CHCH TV segment here.

This media appearance is part of Shulman & Partners LLP’s ongoing contributions to Canadian family law discussions. Explore more of our media features in our In the Media  archive.