International Desk (National Times)- A Canadian father has lost the right to meet his son because of being unvaccinated against COVID-19.

A judge prohibited his meetups with his son, saying it would not be in the child’s “best interest” after a request was submitted by the father to extend his visiting time during the holidays, the BBC reported.

A family law expert told Le Devoir newspaper the “judgement is the first instance in which a parent has been deprived of access rights on immunisation grounds.”

At the end of the previous month, the judge made this decision in Canada’s Quebec province to suspend the visitation rights of the father until February, adding that the judgment would be reversed if he decides to get vaccinated.

The child’s mother stays with her partner and two other children who are too young to be vaccinated.

Because of the rise in COVID-19 cases in French-speaking Quebec, the judge said it was not “in the child’s best interest to have contact with their father”.

Earlier this week, Quebec announced that it would impose a tax on residents who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Although only about 12% of Quebec residents are eligible for the vaccine and remain unvaccinated, they make up over a quarter of all hospital cases, the report said.