Why do nhs admin staff need the vaccine before teachers?

[BrutusMcDogface]

Just that.

I really want to understand why someone who works in an office, away from any patients (and doesn’t even have to go through any corridors that patients will have gone through) get through vaccine, when teachers/school staff don’t?

Of course I don’t begrudge nhs staff their vaccine; absolutely on the contrary. But why aren’t teachers/school staff somewhere on the priority list? Particularly those who are working with children with SEND; all vulnerable, many of whom need personal care.

Please help me to understand.

@BrutusMcDogface - the patterns of transmission, severity and complexity of care when hospitalised is massively age related. Put bluntly, school age children are not a vulnerable population.

It is easier for teachers to socially distance from other adults in their workplace than lots of adults working together in busy environment. For those who are clinically vulnerable, they are near the top of the prioritisation.

If you are going by role/job, then I think there a fair few occupations that are riskier than teaching and could jump the current vaccine process e.g. many public facing roles that have already been mentioned (bus drivers, police officers on beat etc).

@Whiskysoda

Why the biscuit? I think I made it clear that I just wanted to understand, and the other responses have actually helped to clarify it for me.

I also think I need to come off (fucking) Facebook.

@England101- wow, you’re actually on a COVID ward and haven’t had it yet? That’s awful. I hope you get it soon!!

The children I work with are vulnerable 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thanks all. I feel better about this now...sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees.

As PP have suggested, NHS management and admin are so vital to safe and effective healthcare. I don’t understand this argument about who is more deserving. There are a list of professions as long as my arm who have worked throughout the pandemic and deserve the vaccine. Everyone will get it.

There always seems to be bashing of NHS managers when they work so so hard to keep the service up and running. Providing the behind the scenes work to allow clinicians to treat and care for patients. The NHS would grind to a halt without them.

Teachers and other public servants should absolutely be prioritised.

However, all NHS staff make the service run. They are all necessary. My DM is a middle manager for a very specific administrative department within an NHS trust. She has no patient contact, and works entirely from home now. But her role is one that is so vital that should she be incapacitated every single patient in the hospital could suffer lesser care.

[quote Griefmonster]@BrutusMcDogface - the patterns of transmission, severity and complexity of care when hospitalised is massively age related. Put bluntly, school age children are not a vulnerable population.

It is easier for teachers to socially distance from other adults in their workplace than lots of adults working together in busy environment. For those who are clinically vulnerable, they are near the top of the prioritisation.

If you are going by role/job, then I think there a fair few occupations that are riskier than teaching and could jump the current vaccine process e.g. many public facing roles that have already been mentioned (bus drivers, police officers on beat etc).[/quote]
Definitely agree with police being prioritised.
Bus drivers I believe wear masks, as do their passengers and bus drivers are also behind screens, not sure if they have a window to open but I guess the bus doors open frequently.

I am a TA, currently supervising a class of 20. No masks. I am sat right next to children helping them with their work. I serve their lunches and collect plates. I comfort them. I perform first aid most days. I sometimes need to help after toilet accidents. No matter how often we wash hands, little fingers find their way up little noses very frequently, spreading germs all over.
Children might not be at risk from COVID but they certainly get it, often asymptomatically, and certainly pass it on.
Half the TAs in my school currently supervising classes are grandparents themselves so not in the low risk age group.

I'm hospital clerical staff and being vaccinated this week.
I don't feel guilty. I can't do my role from home and although I am not in contact with patients directly I have contact with doctors and nurses.
There is a huge amount of clerical work involved in medicine. Everything has to be recorded properly for patient safety.

The arguments that apply to NHS admin staff apply equally to teachers, other school staff and basically the majority of work out of the home key workers. We all provide essential services which would collapse if we were off sick, lots of us are exposed , a lot of us work with the vulnerable and can't distance. I don't resent NHS staff being done as an urgent priority but I do resent that school staff could be waiting a long, long time despite mingling with large groups daily. I also resent that there aren't keyworkers being prioritized for spare vaccines. Why is our health worth less?

Because some of us work alongside clinical staff who deal with covid patients. Like me.

And yet again it's ALL about the teachers...

Yawn 🥱

Another way of looking at it - if all the admin staff are less at risk after they’ve had the vaccine then so are their children who are in school with key worker places. In a roundabout way, it is beginning to help make our classrooms safer.

Teachers and school staff in some schools are also being asked to administer covid tests! A clinical role!!

Because schools are safe, remember 🤷‍♀️

Because the vaccine may not stop a person carrying the virus so clinical vaccinated staff could pass it onto non clinical. Here the non clinical staff are being vaccinated at the end of the day gradually with left over vaccine

Oh and my friend is admin but works on a ward so almost as exposed as the clinical staff

If me and my colleague were off for at least ten days none of our patients would be getting the vaccine as there would be no one else to organise it. No one would have a clue what to do. The whole surgery would come to a standstill too. I expect the same would happen with a few admin off in a hospital too.

In my trust my surgeon colleagues are sat at home, as all non essential surgery cancelled, and the admin staff are all in on site, working in a hospital full of COVID positive patients. Damn straight the admin staff are getting it!

I also resent that there aren't keyworkers being prioritized for spare vaccines. Why is our health worth less?

That’s simple logistics. It was discovered when mass testing was just starting that many employers, including the NHS just weren’t capable of contacting staff, especially those at home, isolating, or out of hours in a timely enough manner to get to a testing site.

No one in the HR office or answering the phone means staff lists aren’t accessible.

Spare vaccines are being offered to keyworkers. But they need a cascade where they can phone up and have a list of staff and their contact details immediately available. You’d be surprised how many workplaces can’t do that.

someone who works in an office, away from any patients (and doesn’t even have to go through any corridors that patients will have gone through)

I have worked in the NHS for 25 years and don't know of any admin staff who work like you describe. We don't have a seperate 1960's typing pool - everyone is in the same space together. And the space has got a lot smaller in 25 years.

@bluebluezoo good point, I guess it is another area where we are not set up for the pandemic. I'm not in urgent need myself as I am currently wfh but I really feel for teachers, Special needs teachers and nursery workers who are working very closely with others now. I'd love to see them vaccinated as soon as all NHS are done and would love to be done myself before I work face to face in school again.

I can’t think of any department at my Trust that are well hidden enough to not need it. IT are still having to come to clinical areas and meet with staff, training is still having to go ahead, medical secretaries often handle notes and exchange things with doctors, HR see people for ID checks. Our admin are based in a health centre, they also cover staff sickness on wards if required during Covid and some have been redeployed as porters.

There is a genuine chance they might be redeployed to a far more risky role though. Our trust is starting to redeploy again and at very little notice, obviously trying to get staff from places they will be missed the least. From looking at our trusts plans there sits seem to be an overlap between those staff groups on notice to redeploy and those being vaccinated.

We had a Covid outbreak amongst the admin staff in our NHS dept..... for a few days we had minimal staff to answer and direct calls, to send out appointments, to collect records, order supplies or process referrals. Admin staff are crucial!

Am NHS not patient facing. Definitely not a priority for patient care, but I still got the vaccine last week. I think

1. they have a lot of cancellations and don't want to waste the slots, so will do anyone who turns up
2. It's easier to coordinate a mass vaccination centre in a hospital (and perhaps they're trialling it on staff before rolling out to the community? )
3. They have targets they are expected to meet