Schools closing for flu

[Busydoingsomething]

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.

I work in a school and would happily have a jab/spray when the nurses come to school. I would probably even pay if they were there (and not more than £20) But that isn't on offer and i'm not entitled on NHS. I'm not fussed enough to make a special appointment for one.
We have nasty bugs going around. But I don't think it the flu as lots of diarrhoea with it, rashes, coughs, cold, sore throats. Seems more covidy but maybe I haven't read up on the flu symptoms.

Yes, private jabs aren’t even offered in our town. I had to drive 45 minutes to the next town over to get one (which I can now do during the day now that I’m no longer teaching). There are no Saturday slots available. There are no slots after 5pm at all. No Sundays.

The world outside of London (and, I presume, other major cities) is very different. (We also now have no banks, and the local shops open 10-4, closed on a Sunday, and some still close on a Wednesday afternoon)

Yeah I'm school staff and I'm panicking a bit now as I haven't had a flu jab. A lot of pharmacies have run out now too.

You’ve nobody to blame for that but yourself. Flu vaccine programmes tend to begin in September. You’ve had plenty of time. I got mine on October 1.

I work in a school and would happily take a flu vaccine of it was offered to me!

I did supply for a number of years. When I started you could claim milage, for a meal and if necessary a hotel (I did one supply 300 miles from home so the only option was to stay over).

Then things changed and expenses are no longer available. Apparently it was 'unfair' to permeant workers.

So the cost of agency staff went up because if I'm paying my own hotel bill I need another £80 - £100 a day.

The working population should be prioritised for flu jabs but they aren’t.I’ve I been to two booked appointments now, both privately paid for by my employer. On both occasions the pharmacy had run out of vaccines and not bothered to either save any for booked appointments or ring to inform me and rearrange my appointment. These were at separate pharmacies.
So I am unvaccinated yet expected to work with the general public.
If I’m ill I will ring in sick.

My surgery and local pharmacy were offering flu and covid jabs at weekends and until 7pm weekdays from the beginning of October. Why the government don't offer free flu jabs to everyone I will never understand. Look at the cost and chaos to the NHS, the public and the economy now, as a result of poor vaccination take up.

My husband has always been offered a free flu vaccine in every school he taught in and has always had it. Why are you assuming teachers don’t get vaccinated?

Tried so many pharmacies to get a weekend vaccine for DH (teacher) or a time slot after 5. Could not get one at all. I have managed to get a day appointment for next week after he has broken up for Christmas.
We don’t all live in a thriving city. It IS difficult to get one. I booked this appointment a month ago.

This is my 20th year teaching and for the first 18 I got a flu vaccine along with the rest of my class:easy, quick, time effective (and obviously optional).

Last year was the first year we were told we weren't eligible due to budget cuts. I complained last year, I complained this year. We have had so many staff absences, covered by supply at hundreds of pounds a day.

It's extremely short sighted and frustrating when you consider how much a vaccine costs compared to how much all the supply costs. Nothing seems to make sense anymore!

Aren't you the bees knees!

The practical obstacles of getting a jab are a really good point, and something LEAs and academy chains should look at.

But please stop making out like teaching us any more stressful etc than many other jobs. It just shows a lack of awareness as to what many other jobs are like.

There’s also a whole October half term for people who remember to book it. Plus the weekends which is when I, as someone who works full time, had mine in the past.

I think teachers should be given it for free - it was at the school where my mum worked. But I don’t really buy that it’s so impossibly hard to physically get to an appointment (I appreciate it’s hard right now because of the news and the increase in demand, I’m talking generally).

Good point about half term!

This is really lazy. Why not take the initiative to get the vaccine yourself? Unless I misunderstood you?

When I was teacher the school paid for us to have the vaccine if we wanted as a way to reduce staff sickness.

There is absolutely no problem getting vaccinated. I'm pretty sure the majority of head teachers would not object to staff leaving early (once the children have left) to get vaccinated and there are also a number of opportunities to get your jab on a Saturday. You can't make it free for school teachers without also making it free for a lot of other professions. Finally, you cannot oblige people to be vaccinated because the law will not allow you to, except in a few very narrow circumstances.

I've been teaching years and have never been offered a vaccine. I worked in a university for a while and got one there.

I tried to get a flu jab paid for by myself this year and last and was told no appointments available. I was down to have one at the chemist last week but had a message on the day to say it's been cancelled.

Totally agree school staff should be offered. The only staff at my school who have been vaccinated are those with other health conditions that made them eligible, but we're all so exposed and loads of staff are off already.

The uptake in schools of this vaccine is low…nationally just about 50%, but in some local authorities (areas with higher than average ethnic minority populations), it’s much lower. In my area, we have a very large Polish community (my school is around 40% Polish and Eastern European children) and none of these children had the flu spray.

School staff getting sick…it’s a sure bet that they’ve been infected by a child/children in their care! 💯💯

If you want to raise the odds of staff staying well, do your part and either a) take up the offers of vaccination for your children, or b) keep them off if they are unwell.

Unwell children are ‘great’ sharers of their germs…I’ve lost count of how many snotty sneezes I’ve been covered in, how much projectile vomit has landed on me, how many uncovered coughs I’ve had right in my face. It’s a LOT! Not their fault of course, but please, do your part as a parent and try to minimise the spread.

We really truly do NOT like phoning in sick…I’ve personally not had a day off in over 2 years…but honestly, it’s no fun teaching 34 seven year olds if you’re not well! 🤧 🤒 😷

You don’t have to fill in the form though do you? I mean, nothing will happen if you don’t and your child won’t be vaccinated as they won’t have consent. My DDs always have theirs so I always fill in the form, but if I kept forgetting or was just someone who never read the school emails, the school couldn’t make me.

My kids school Oniy had their flu jab at the end of November, which is far too late. My son said hardly any kids had it either. I was done first October (healthcare) and would have had my son done too if it was possible.
people been to step up and take priority for their own health at the start of the season rather than panic and play dumb that they didn’t expect winter viruses in winter 😉

Local school has just closed. They apparently had just over 150 absences from around 400 pupils on Tuesday.

In no school I’ve ever worked in (in a number of different areas) has the vaccine been offered to staff, I’m genuinely surprised by those saying it has or that vouchers have been given.

I’ve had mine as I’m asthmatic and DC had theirs both in October. Glad we did as DH was floored by the flu a few weeks ago - it swept through the offices he works in like wildfire apparently, but thankfully we didn’t pick it up.

True but I'm part time and I'm not in a vulnerable group plus this year it seems to be worse than previous years and is ripping through the schools like covid did (I'm vaccinated for Covid) so I don't usually get one but having seen the news etc and hearing about all the local schools I now think I should try to get one but yes it might be too late.