to think if they vaccinate teachers- they should also do shop and other key worker too?

[Pat123dev]

I understand teachers want vaccination, who wouldn't want it. But why are other key workers not being considered too? Shop workers, police force many others, must see 100s if not 1000s of people a day?
Or is that why they're not vaccinating them yet, because they're all exposed more than those at home and it's too big a group so best to stick vulnerable for the time being?

@Annabell80 to be honest, I haven't heard any of my colleagues shouting for vaccination priority - what I have seen reported as 'teachers' has been a head here or there. I really don't think it's a universal majority. Current drive is down to Labour, and I think UsforThem have also been calling for it.

I, and my colleagues, are appalled at the idea we could cause someone more vulnerable to have to wait.

Oh, and as someone who used to work in customer facing retail, yes, I do appreciate how tough a job it is, and think the way people treat retail staff who are just trying to do their jobs is awful.

I also think that, if you have two people at the same nominal risk for Covid, one on a decent salary, with sickness benefits, and one on hourly minimum wage and reliant on SSP if off sick, the latter should take priority.

And...I have the utmost respect for anyone who works in the bear pit that is retail.

Those of you complaining about this seems to be missing the point entirely.

What happens if a teacher catches Covid/is exposed and has to isolate?! They are off work. Who will provide childcare for the other key workers then?!

All safety fears aside- the reason so many support this is that they understand it is important TO KEEP TEACHERS WORKING. Pretty sure most parents have to be in agreement that this is a good idea

The people really are risk are old people, and people with underlying health issues. All of these people need to be vaccinated before teachers.

@Watchingbehindmyhands

Education is, supposedly, a priority. Preventing outbreaks amongst school staff will keep schools open no child at a disadvantage when their school is closed and the one down the road is open.

It won't though, as the vaccination hasn't been shown to reduce transmission.

@tttigress

The people really are risk are old people, and people with underlying health issues. All of these people need to be vaccinated before teachers.

They are being. Any talk about vaccinating teachers/police/shopworkers has been about the next phase, once all the 70+ and severely vulnerable have been done.

@saraclara - the majority of people now in ICU are not in the categories that will be vaccinated in the first four groups. People with diabetes have a 3-4 x risk of death (and are more complex to care for in hospital) and they are in group six. If you want to have access to health care if you have a serious issue, probably best to get these people vaccinated before opening everything up again.

I personally think that while people are avoiding tests and going to work with symptoms because SSP isn't enough to live on, or they aren't even getting that, after the first 10 groups they need to prioritise the poorest people. Even in schools LSAs are at a much bigger risk than teachers.

I think theres a strong case for special school teachers and teaching assistants getting it early,

I don't live in the UK but my understanding is that unlike other 'keyworkers', teachers are unable to wear masks and students also do not wear masks (which I find shocking but that's a whole other issue) whereas other 'keyworkers' can and do wear masks and also deal with otjer masked people who understand and are able to social distance, unlike 30-odd children crammed into a classroom who may be unable to socially distance or may not fully understand it.

Also teachers will be surrounded by students for several hours of the day which makes them incredibly vulnerable as the more time spent around a covid-sufferer, the more likely you are to be infected (if it's 5 hours+, the risk leaps up enormously, even when masks are worn by all, so it must be hideously risky for teachers).

Lastly, it has been a very well known fact since the very beginning of the pandemic that children spread the virus more than any other group as they are very often asymptomatic.

Also if a teacher catches covid that is literally 30-odd children who are also high risk of having caught it (due to the lack of masks, close proximity and duration of time discussed above). Whereas if a masked shopworker catches covid, they are far less likely to pass it on to a masked customer who they are with for less than 5 minutes.

So YABVVVYU.

Age, mortality, co-morbidities, profession, should all be factored into vaccine priority along with likelihood of exposure, IMO.

Btw, it is unknown as to whether the vaccine stops a person from spreading the virus. At this point, it's meant to lower the chance of getting severe symptoms. It's assumed a vaccinated person can still contract the virus and still spread it until we know otherwise.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-what-to-expect-after-vaccination/what-to-expect-after-your-covid-19-vaccination

Why can’t children and teachers wear masks in the classroom? With 100,000 dead is this really something worth resisting anymore?

@Watchingbehindmyhands

Education is, supposedly, a priority. Preventing outbreaks amongst school staff will keep schools open no child at a disadvantage when their school is closed and the one down the road is open.

Vaccinating teachers won't stop bubbles from bursting though.

Someone on BBC News is talking about this right now and saying that teachers are a priority after the first for vulnerable groups in order to keep schools open and I understand that teachers are concerned about their Covid risk especially because they can’t socially distance or wear masks but how does all of the teachers being vaccinated do anything to stop the source of community transmission between groups of children mixing that’s what I don’t understand?

@turnitonagain

Why can’t children and teachers wear masks in the classroom? With 100,000 dead is this really something worth resisting anymore?

Locally all children and teachers wore masks in the classroom. I’m sure that helped reduce spread hugely and kept the school open. It did not eliminate spread within the school though. We still had bubbles bursting at a rate of at least one a week

@OrangeSlices998

Someone on BBC News is talking about this right now and saying that teachers are a priority after the first for vulnerable groups in order to keep schools open and I understand that teachers are concerned about their Covid risk especially because they can’t socially distance or wear masks but how does all of the teachers being vaccinated do anything to stop the source of community transmission between groups of children mixing that’s what I don’t understand?

Hopefully the vaccine will stop you spreading it, at least to some extent. And teachers are going to forward it far more than children, facing the class and talking directly to them. Teachers probably spread it more than anyone

Isn’t the source of the new variant spreading so fast thought to be children who are largely asymptomatic? Hence bubbles were ‘burst’ so regularly in the run up the Christmas.

Angela Rayner has just been on BBC breakfast wanting teachers to be included in phase 1 but she didn’t seem keen on saying which of the other groups in phase 1 should be pushed further down. The over 60s or the clinically vulnerable perhaps .
She also seemed to be inferring that the vaccination program was slacking and could do more

No because they are not allowed to wear masks in class

This is not true. I have been wearing a mask all day while teaching, since we went back in September. There has been no problem with students understanding me.

Our school rules say that everyone, staff and students, must wear masks in the corridors and common spaces. They can wear masks in the classroom if they wish. Lots do.

@sadeyedladyofthelowlands63

No because they are not allowed to wear masks in class

This is not true. I have been wearing a mask all day while teaching, since we went back in September. There has been no problem with students understanding me.

Our school rules say that everyone, staff and students, must wear masks in the corridors and common spaces. They can wear masks in the classroom if they wish. Lots do.

I think Boris needs to state this clearly in a briefing then, the "not allowed masks" line is repeated every day on here, and as much as I agree it was a ridiculous rule, if it's untrue he needs to make all teaching staff aware.

Teachers have a good argument for being in front of shop workers and similar because both shop workers and customers wear a face mask and they are usually in a large room and 2m away or behind a plastic screen.
Have you actually been in a supermarket during this pandemic? Wearing of face masks by customers is sporadic, there's bugger all social distancing, and staff have been receiving all sorts of verbal and physical abuse. I have doubts about the effectiveness off those perspex screens too, we're often told that visors offer no protection are small pieces of perspex really much better? It's not like the ones in a bank which cover the whole area, there are massive gaps in supermarket screens.

All sounds a bit like boats on the Titanic to me. If teachers, shop workers etc jump the queue, then that would push more clinically vulnerable people down the queue

[quote whydobirds]@Nopreservatives over the 200,000 secondary teachers under the dfe, roughly 1% were off on average, nationally, for each week over the entirety of last term - that's an infection rate of 1000 in every 100,000, at a time when the area I work in was at 500. I want to see it on an area by area basis as obviously there will be lots below that average - would be interesting to see where was higher. Covid measures have been shown, by the way, to have driven down normal seasonal infections.[/quote]
Is that the number infected or the number off isolating? They aren't one and the same. Comparisons with the community at large are also unhelpful because many people have been working from home throughout with little contact with the outside world and aren't being considered for pushing forward. A better comparison would be with other critical workers who cannot work from home. What is the infection rate for teachers, public transport staff, retail staff etc.?

I’m a teacher and I don’t care about having to wait. At all. All my colleagues except those that are vulnerable feel the same. Don’t make the assumption that teachers shout the loudest just because the unions do! They don’t necessarily speak for us. I am however desperate to go back to work and if a vaccine makes that possible because sickness rates will be less of an issue then obviously that would be great. I don’t think I deserve it over a 60 year old shop worker, or an early years practitioner but I do appreciate the sensible and measured view of some posters here. It shouldn’t be a bun fight over “who deserves the parachute most”, but what is best for society overall.

@DdraigGoch it was the number infected per day, the number isolating was 3 times higher.
What wasn't clear, however, was if these were daily new cases, or prolonged sickness...and that is why I want to see the ONS data. I know it was bad where I work (3x local area rate of infection in teachers - and the local area rate was high) however, I would be interested to see what it looked like nationally.

My town’s vaccination centre has is offering teachers, police and some front line workers the leftover jabs they have at the end of each day. Better than going to waste. Of course some people still like to moan.

Because teachers make a fuss and threaten strikes

Huh, must have missed that email 🤷🏻‍♀️

I don’t honestly see the point in vaccinating teachers as a priority, I thought vaccinating didn’t prevent you passing it on? Or is that not right? Either way vaccinating teachers won’t prevent the children from passing it to each other and taking it home, that’s where the community spread comes from.