Family of cancer-stricken child runs afoul of vaccine mandate

Facility in Canada helping families with sick children now demands Covid-19 jabs

The father of a boy with leukemia says the family is facing eviction from a facility run by the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Vancouver, British Columbia, over new rules requiring Covid-19 vaccination by the end of January.

Calls to “boycott McDonald’s” made the rounds on social media on Wednesday, after Austin Furgason posted a video on Facebook confronting the manager of the facility over the letter laying out the jab mandate. 

“How absolutely wicked and vile,” Furgason said. “They are evicting my son with [leukemia] and any other children or adults who are suffering with sick children into the snow.”

“The Covid cult is far more dangerous [than] Covid. If they will evict families with cancer, what won’t they do,” Furgason added.

Furgason provided local media outlet True North with a copy of the letter, saying that anyone over the age of five staying at the charity’s facilities must show proof of full vaccination starting January 17, unless explicitly granted an accommodation. Families already in residence have until January 31 to get their first jab.

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In a statement emailed to Vancouver’s City News on Wednesday, the charity said the mandate was put into place “to ensure we meet the highest standards of health and safety and protect the vulnerable population we serve.”

No one is getting evicted per se, the RMH added, explaining that its “family services team here would work closely with the team of social workers at the hospital to find alternate accommodation for a family that would meet their needs for the duration of their stay in Vancouver.” 

“We appreciate that this policy will impact those who have made a decision not to vaccinate, however, the overall health and welfare of all our residents is our primary concern,” said the charity.

Funded through donations from the eponymous fast-food chain, the Ronald McDonald Houses are located near children’s hospitals and offer parents the ability to “stay close to their hospitalized child and benefit from the comforts of home without incurring hotel and food costs,” according to the charity. The Vancouver facility opened in 1983.

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Furgason and his wife moved from Kelowna in October 2021, so their son Jack, who was four at the time, could begin treatment – which is supposed to end in June. 

“Our kid’s been doing really good,” Furgason told True North. “He’s got lots of energy, he’s super positive. Everything was going great.” 

After his wife Lindsay showed him the letter, he went to confront the facility’s manager. In the video, Furgason can be heard explaining that he’s not an “anti-vaxxer,” but that he has chosen not to take the Covid-19 jabs, as they don’t stop transmission. The manager agreed, but said the mandate is intended to protect everyone at the facility.