Why can't they vaccinate teaching staff first? If they want schools to open?

[piddocktrumperiness]

I understand that there are arguably more vulnerable people that need the vaccine, in terms of health but if they, the govt want schools to open, and if kids are the vectors that super spread the virus, why can't they ensure that teaching staff become priority and get the vaccine?

If children aren’t being vaccinated, it will have no effect on transmission. We don’t yet know that vaccines will reduce transmission.

Schools aren’t closed because of risk to teachers.

It's just a question of whether you vaccinate someone with a 0.1% chance of dying before someone with a 10% chance of dying.

But the kids would still spread it between themselves and then back into their homes?

It’s not just teachers catching it that’s the problem, It’s children spreading it to vulnerable family. Also I don’t agree that teachers should have it before the most vulnerable.

Because they didn’t close to protect teaching staff, and even if the teachers are vaccinated it can still spread among parents and the contacts of parents etc

It’s not just the teachers that are risk of getting the virus, it’s family’s of the children so it wouldn’t actually help with that.

Children are seven times more likely to be the first person in a household to have covid. How would vaccinating their teacher help with that?

Because it would still be 20 / 30 households mixing with each other. Most teachers are especially vulnerable, and if they are then they’ll get the vaccine in the priority order.

This really isn’t rocket science and I don’t know how people still aren’t getting it - the people who need to be vaccinated are the ones ending up in hospital and in morgues - statistically that is not working age people

*aren’t especially vulnerable

Because it will have zero effect on reducing transmission, and so in turn getting us off Alert 5, and therefore having any prospect of reopening anything.

Pretty useless to the country to have immunised school staff but no prospect of reopening schools because NHS continues to teeter on edge of collapse.

And the longer restrictions go on, the worse it gets for everyone.

It's really, really important to get pressure off NHS. Ideally before it breaks.

I agree with you are saying- I'm just thinking that if the closure of schools is causing such distress to many- the capacity to teach is knocked down if staff are off. A couple of teachers at my son's school for example have not really been face to face teaching because they were named as potential contacts by some kids in the school and therefore had to self isolate on a few occasions in the last term, which meant lost learning. That could be a fault in how the school is monitoring this but I'm just thinking of this little corner, where the backbone of the school is vaccinated, so that kids can still come in and learn.

This is a diversion as others have said. Dangerous.

Yes teaching unions were campaigning on teacher safety but it was also whole school community safety.

Have you totally missed why the schools are off now though? It’s because they’re hotbeds of transmission. Not because of staff absence.

After a little rethink- I think yes, ensure all clinically vulnerable and elderly should be vaccinated first but then vaccinate the teachers the same time they vaccinate NHS workers and care workers

@piddocktrumperiness

I understand that there are arguably more vulnerable people that need the vaccine, in terms of health but if they, the govt want schools to open, and if kids are the vectors that super spread the virus, why can't they ensure that teaching staff become priority and get the vaccine?

Because the children who are infected will pass it in to other children, their families and even teachers. The vaccine doesn't prevent spread, it just prevents people from being seriously ill.

@PurpleDaisies
Of course, I know that schools are Petri dishes for the virus. I fear that keeping them open, by this govt is a political and economic tact and so, and just by playing devil's advocate- if the govt really want to keep schools open, for the 'sake of the economy' to get parents back into work- this is one way to do it that could help a little.

Ideally of course they would remain shut as would many other areas of the economy, kind of a reset- place a pause for 4 weeks, test regularly and roll out the vaccine. The reality however is that the gov has blundered its way through and insisted on keeping schools open, not for the wellbeing of kids, but to keep parents working.

Umm it isn't just about teachers catching it. Students pass it to the community. Parents, siblings, into the workplace, onto elderly relatives too.

As others have said, it’s the fact that children are in schools mixing that makes them “vectors of transmission” (clearly our PM learned a new phrase there) and can take it home to their families that is the main danger to the community.
Of course teachers should be high on the list for vaccination (I would say that, I’m one myself) along with other people in risky work environments. My personal list would go: NHS/dental and social care workers, staff in education, prison staff, supermarket staff, sport and leisure staff, beauty therapists and so on. These people of working age should be vaccinated in parallel with older, non working age groups, rather than sequentially. By then you have many of the public facing roles (ie higher risk) in society, and many family members. Apologies if I’ve missed any sectors.

@piddocktrumperiness

After a little rethink- I think yes, ensure all clinically vulnerable and elderly should be vaccinated first but then vaccinate the teachers the same time they vaccinate NHS workers and care workers

This is asking them to be done in priority 1

You seem to be wanting the entire priority list to be reworked, you do realise , for example that the CEV are priority 4 - below care and NHS staff?

And that if you start putting occupational groups ahead of the most vulnerable groups (age, comorbidity) and NHS staff, it just means a longer wait to move off Alert 5.

No point in having immunised teachers if schools cannot reopen because we remain at critical risk. Especially not when others are literally going to die because of that. Not just of covid, but also from the lack of availability of ICU for anything else whatsoever, plus the consequences of poverty which gets more severe with the passage of time

The vaccine doesn't prevent spread

Why do people keep saying this? We just don’t know yet. They might. Some scientists are pretty confident they will. We just need to wait for the data.

@saffire
I agree, as do the teachers who may pick up the virus from the kids and bring it back to their own family members.
It's just one little extra way to help mitigate I suppose- coming from a different angle

If they prioritise teacher vaccines then they also need to prioritise vaccines for parents with school aged children

It's no good having teachers vaccinated and opening schools when the children can still spread it and being it home to vulnerable family members

Care staff and nhs staff get vaccinations because they spend time with extremely clinically vulnerable people regularly and we need to stop the spread in those environments to stop people being hospitalised and dying.

While covid is spreading in schools the people in schools (kids and staff) are way less likely to be hospitalised and die.

We don’t have infinite capacity for giving out vaccines. Who would you move down the list so that teachers could move up it?

@SexTrainGlue
I see your point and I agree with most of what you say.I suppose I am a little confused as to why they are not on the list at all.

@Brunt0n

Because it would still be 20 / 30 households mixing with each other. Most teachers are especially vulnerable, and if they are then they’ll get the vaccine in the priority order.

This really isn’t rocket science and I don’t know how people still aren’t getting it - the people who need to be vaccinated are the ones ending up in hospital and in morgues - statistically that is not working age people

Try 200+ in secondary...