A Chicago mother was prevented from seeing her son by a judge until she was vaccinated against COVID-19. The judge later reversed his course. Hector Amezcua / AP

• A judge ruled that a mother cannot visit her 11-year-old son until she is vaccinated against COVID-19.

• The virtual child support trial took a turn when the judge asked about vaccinations.

• Weeks later, the judge overturned his earlier decision and allowed the mother to visit her son.

• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

A Chicago judge changed course after ruling a mother with joint custody of her son couldn’t see the boy until she was vaccinated against COVID-19. After a few weeks had passed and the mother appealed, the judge overturned his earlier decision.

Earlier this month, Rebecca Firlit went to the virtual court with her ex-husband to discuss child support. Instead, Cook County judge James Shapiro asked about Firlit’s vaccination status, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

“One of the first things he asked me when I got the Zoom call was whether or not I was vaccinated, which threw me off because I asked him what that had to do with the hearing,” said Firlit. 39, the newspaper.

Firlit’s ex-husband and son’s father, Matthew Duiven, is vaccinated, the Sun-Times reported. Firlit isn’t.

Shapiro has banned Firlit from seeing her 11-year-old son until she is vaccinated against COVID-19. Shapiro did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Firlit appealed, but has only been able to speak to her son by phone in the meantime.

She didn’t say if she would get vaccinated, the Washington Post reported.

On Monday, Shapiro changed his mind and allowed Firlit to see her son in person, Firlit’s attorney told WFLD.

The number of children hospitalized for COVID-19 has skyrocketed in the United States, NBC News reported. Data from earlier this month showed that hospitals were treating an average of over 1,200 children a day.

The COVID-19 vaccines are only approved for use in the US for children 12 years and older, so Firlit’s son is too young at 11 to get one himself.

While the Sun-Times reported that Firlit’s ex-husband initially failed to bring up the issue of vaccination, he intended to combat Firlit’s appeal. Duiven’s lawyer was not immediately available for comment prior to the publication.

Read the original article on Insider