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Original poster

Schools closing for flu

424 replies

Busydoingsomething · 12/12/2025 00:02

A school near me has partially closed due to staff shortages. Another has cancelled all performances. Some of the children will have been vaccinated but I suspect, lots of the staff won’t have been. I was listening to 2 people today, on the train, discussing whether school staff should be vaccinated, to prevent the staff being off and impacting on education. Wondering if this would be a good move.

OP posts:
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icannotbelievethis · 12/12/2025 06:39

Vaccination needs to start being compulsory for all public servants and school children. They said on the news last night that we are at such a low uptake of vaccines for nearly every disease that we’re moving away from herd immunity. Terrifying.

OddBoots · 12/12/2025 06:45

The trouble is that we have seen what happens when medical things are mandated, it feeds the conspiracy monster and caused a stronger pushback. Even suggesting that simple measures might be a good idea seems to set them off. Some humans seem psychologically allergic to science.

Kickinthenostalgia · 12/12/2025 06:46

Dd had the vaccination - the up the nose one… miraculously she hasn’t caught it, the rest of us including DP who has had the jab did get it. It’s strange how it works.. I thought for sure she’d catch something after we had to go to hospital 6 days ago for an X-ray and were left in the waiting room for 2 hours but she seems to have escaped that thank god. Although every year for the last 7 she’s been sick in December about this time so I’m not writing it off just yet. 🙄 she said some teachers had it at the same time as her so I believe it is offered to them….

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Piggywaspushed · 12/12/2025 06:47

FancyFireplaces · 12/12/2025 06:37

It only costs £15-25. The issue isn’t that it isn’t offered for free. This issue is that people don’t value vaccines.

Someone in another post said it’s too difficult to get one because pharmacies close at 5pm and weekend slots are all booked up. That may be the case for people living rurally, but for anyone in a larger town or city there are plenty of places offering vaccines after 5pm. I’m in London and could get one in any number of places today if I wanted to, and none of them would be closed at 5pm. However, I would wager few of the staff at my kids schools have had one.

Show quote history

London is very unrepresentative. I live in a decent sized town. Boots have not had slots for months. Tescos offer them but not on a weekend. It's genuinely hard to get slots. No ordinary pharmacies do them here.

It's not the cost putting people off, I do agree.

Dreamerinme · 12/12/2025 06:47

The school I work in has nurses come in to offer a free flu vaccine to any staff who wants it and has done so for years. I have no idea of the uptake of this but I presume quite a few have it otherwise they wouldn’t bother.

I do think it must be optional and no pressure on staff - we don’t live in a dictatorship and saying school staff “should” be vaccinated is putting the blame on them towards the flu outbreak.

And where does the blame stop? Has no one learnt anything from the Covid transmitting-frothing-at-the-mouth hysteria on here just a few years ago? Anyone who ventures out into society is potentially spreading bugs, even unwittingly. Perhaps those that catch the tube daily ‘should’ be vaccinated - that’s a well known viral playground. Where does it stop?

Latenightreader · 12/12/2025 06:48

Last year my mother and daughter both had flu despite being vaccinated. I didn't, and hadn't had the vaccine (not sure how I avoided it - maybe I was asymptomatic). Lots of pupils at my daughter's school had it, despite practically everyone being vaccinated. Sadly having the vaccine doesn't mean you won't get flu.

I think the council where I work still offers it to teachers. Two years ago we were all offered it!

PrincessHoneysuckle · 12/12/2025 06:50

At the secondary school I work in we were offered free flu jab vouchers with Boots.

icannotbelievethis · 12/12/2025 06:55

OddBoots · 12/12/2025 06:45

The trouble is that we have seen what happens when medical things are mandated, it feeds the conspiracy monster and caused a stronger pushback. Even suggesting that simple measures might be a good idea seems to set them off. Some humans seem psychologically allergic to science.

You can’t legislate against stupid people. But you can make sure the vast majority of the country is healthy

MigGirl · 12/12/2025 06:56

FancyFireplaces · 12/12/2025 06:32

Only 40% of children age 5-14 years have had the vaccine despite it being free and provided at school. Parents are the problem here. It’s baffling that anyone wouldn’t take a minute to fill in a simple online form to protect their children and their teachers from flu.

Similarly, only 42% of NHS staff have had the vaccine so less than half of the people treating the huge influx in cases in hospitals are protected. There’s absolutely no excuse for it.

You have to fill in the form even if you don't want your child vaccinated, so it's a consues decision by parents not to vaccinate.

My son has always had it even before schools where offering it as he has asthma. The school option just makes it easier for me as I don't need to take him to the doctors for it.

My school offered it free for staff this year, we had someone come in to give them. But some year's they haven't and other years it's been a voucher. I already had mine before they offered it to us though.

PersephoneParlormaid · 12/12/2025 06:58

A lot of people say they have flu when they actually have a heavy cold, there is a difference.

RampantIvy · 12/12/2025 06:58

HedgeWitchOfTheWest · 12/12/2025 06:21

Some schools offer a vaccine voucher, but it’s incredibly difficult for school staff to get the jab because they absolutely can’t access it during the week (outside the cited pharmacies close at 5, and contrary to popular belief school staff are usually still at work), and then weekends are often too busy to get a slot.

For a couple of years my school brought a pharmacist in to vaccinate staff throughout the day. This was great, but only if you had a PPA you could visit in. Breaks are too short (often 20-30 mins now) to get through many people.

Remember school staff are unimaginably physically and mentally stressed, they often work through minor illnesses and so if they get to the point of needing to take time off they’re often quite unwell. And schools are just filthy places, children have questionable hygiene at best. Children are discouraged from going to the loo most of the time and even when they have the opportunity to do so breaks are so short handwashing is negligible or absent.

Bringing in covid strategies of ventilation and desk wiping between classes would go a long way. And bringing back proper length lunch breaks would benefit staff and students.

Our GP and the pharmacies round here do weekend vaccinations.

Khara · 12/12/2025 06:58

I work in a primary school. It used to be the case that when they came round to do the kids nasal vaccine we were offered an injection too. They stopped that quite a few years ago.

Pinkissmart · 12/12/2025 06:59

Busydoingsomething · 12/12/2025 00:09

I guess that even if only half of them took it up, it could make a massive difference to potential sickness and its effect on the pupils.

What makes you think they all aren’t?
Are you saying they should be forced? As in, no bodily autonomy?

landlordhell · 12/12/2025 06:59

My whole school ( chn) was offered it but not the staff!

FlamingoQueen · 12/12/2025 07:01

Perhaps parents shouldn’t send their children to school if they’re unwell - and yes, I know their attendance is important, but so is not killing half the school.

icannotbelievethis · 12/12/2025 07:02

Pinkissmart · 12/12/2025 06:59

What makes you think they all aren’t?
Are you saying they should be forced? As in, no bodily autonomy?

Show quote history

It’s a vaccine. A lot of people are too stupid to understand and get bought in by TikTok conspiracies.

LottieMary · 12/12/2025 07:04

Busydoingsomething · 12/12/2025 00:02

A school near me has partially closed due to staff shortages. Another has cancelled all performances. Some of the children will have been vaccinated but I suspect, lots of the staff won’t have been. I was listening to 2 people today, on the train, discussing whether school staff should be vaccinated, to prevent the staff being off and impacting on education. Wondering if this would be a good move.

Performances are one thing but for teaching staff, cover is available through agencies - but if it’s anything like our school a day costs around £200-300. I wouldn’t be surprised if schools eventually stop paying this and close instead especially primaries where they could close a single class more easily.
afaik French schools do this.

Bananaandmangosmoothie · 12/12/2025 07:04

They may also be home with unwell children.

GoodBrew · 12/12/2025 07:05

I used to help organise the vaccines for nurses (flu but also hep B due to the risk of needle injury). It was an incredibly frustrating job, just in terms of engagement and getting them to actually respond to invitations one way or another. I would often book the room and pay the pharmacist on the off chance people may still turn up but we would still have a significant number of no shows. I can only conclude that there was a significant number of anti vaxxers working in that hospital. It was both eye opening and very disappointing.

Original poster
Busydoingsomething · 12/12/2025 07:08

Pinkissmart · 12/12/2025 06:59

What makes you think they all aren’t?
Are you saying they should be forced? As in, no bodily autonomy?

Show quote history

No, not forced at all. There’s no way that that could be made mandatory and neither should they be. Offered though, yes I think so. Aside from the fact that teachers are in small, under ventilated spaces with at least 30 people for a large amount of the day, if they become ill and staff absence rockets, that’s going to impact on parents. We know that schools aren’t childcare etc. However, if classes close, many parents are going to struggle to work/

OP posts:
Crumpt · 12/12/2025 07:09

I've taught for around 15 years and have never known a flu epidemic particularly affecting schools/school children up to now. As far as I'm aware, I've never had flu so in all honesty it didn't occur to me to get vaccinated as I'm youngish and not in a risk group. Frankly the cost to me is quite a lot of money. Both my children are vaccinated and I'm really surprised take-up is so low. Is it certain groups? Every school I've ever worked in has had at least 80% of children get the nasal spray, and often closer to 100%.

Original poster
Busydoingsomething · 12/12/2025 07:10

LottieMary · 12/12/2025 07:04

Performances are one thing but for teaching staff, cover is available through agencies - but if it’s anything like our school a day costs around £200-300. I wouldn’t be surprised if schools eventually stop paying this and close instead especially primaries where they could close a single class more easily.
afaik French schools do this.

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Schools simply don’t have the budgets for it.

OP posts:
GrumpyCowBag · 12/12/2025 07:10

The problem is vaccine uptake is so low now, worryingly with all vaccines. We need a massive investment into vaccine education. People need to hear from scientists how vaccines work, and they need to hear the consequences of being unvaccinated. We’re in for scary times if things like polio, hepatitis, measles etc all have a massive surge. And parents are CHOOSING not to vaccinate their kids. People talk about having autonomy over their body but are the children deciding to risk their lives with these disease we can’t remember, or are the (likely vaccinated) parents making that uneducated choice for them?

Philandbill · 12/12/2025 07:12

Busydoingsomething · 12/12/2025 07:08

No, not forced at all. There’s no way that that could be made mandatory and neither should they be. Offered though, yes I think so. Aside from the fact that teachers are in small, under ventilated spaces with at least 30 people for a large amount of the day, if they become ill and staff absence rockets, that’s going to impact on parents. We know that schools aren’t childcare etc. However, if classes close, many parents are going to struggle to work/

Show quote history

The multi academy trust I work for offered vaccinations and I took them up on the offer. So some schools do. My last school did too

HoneyParsnipSoup · 12/12/2025 07:14

GrumpyCowBag · 12/12/2025 07:10

The problem is vaccine uptake is so low now, worryingly with all vaccines. We need a massive investment into vaccine education. People need to hear from scientists how vaccines work, and they need to hear the consequences of being unvaccinated. We’re in for scary times if things like polio, hepatitis, measles etc all have a massive surge. And parents are CHOOSING not to vaccinate their kids. People talk about having autonomy over their body but are the children deciding to risk their lives with these disease we can’t remember, or are the (likely vaccinated) parents making that uneducated choice for them?

Sadly I doubt the anti vaxxers will listen. They’ll see a dubious looking Instagram video about how the ‘science is fake’ and ‘big pharma’ and carry on with their conspiracy nonsense.

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