The teacher who died just after Christmas.

[Breastfeedingworries]

Good morning all,

Not sure if if this was posted about at the time as I didn’t see the thread.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/covid-19-family-of-teacher-who-died-with-coronavirus-say-school-staff-must-be-priority-for-vaccination-12195441

Why aren’t we vaccinating teachers? Is there a petition online?

Can we as a MN massive do something’s about this.

Emotive issue NB d I'll be honest I caught covid myself at work. Unlike that teacher the Op refers to I have multiple "underlying conditions" including asthma being overweight and MH issues and I am older than he was a few years ago but I recovered.

I was not happy with the government guidance as it provides no real protection, even against the old variant, and it is quite likely that when schools reopen I and others are very likely to get reinfected when I'm still not right from the last time!

I'm still against vaccinating teachers before over 50's etc because it may do very little to prevent community spread.

I think it would be preferable for the government and ons to be have been far more transparent about which professions are more likely to be infected or hospitalised by coronavirus and rely on this when they decide priority for the second wave.

Hi OP, I totally agree.

There is a petition, here it is:

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554316?fbclid=IwAR1wE4L7vbABvvCd337wjLS9kGLUP4CHpdai0tyMhKCQpTnEBh5JIpAxdGk

Hope that works, I’m not very good with tech...

What do you mean ‘a policeman died of Covid’ . Scores of school staff and police officers have died. Almost none are in the news. Does that really leave people believing the deaths are in single figures? Surely not

@PinkTonic

Who would you propose is de-prioritised to facilitate vaccinating teachers as a group rather than as individuals in accordance with their specific risk?

And yet oddly despite this being a widely held view on MN, we are also fine with the fact that the NHS is handing out priority vaccines to anybody who has even a tenuous link to them. I've heard of (on here) a volunteer who doesn't even volunteer anymore plus family members both healthy, one is an accountant who has worked exclusively from home since the beginning of the lockdown and one who is a healthy 22 year old lad who does IT as a temp for the NHS. They both got done weeks ago whilst I (high risk, special needs teacher in work full time with children who luck the door handles) will need to wait several more months.

I'm completely fine to wait my turn behind all vulnerable people but yes I do actually think I should be prioritised above 22 year old IT temps 🤷‍♂️

@PinkTonic

Who would you propose is de-prioritised to facilitate vaccinating teachers as a group rather than as individuals in accordance with their specific risk?

I would propose that they become group 5 and are vaccinated at half term.

I also think shopworkers and police should be vaccinated soon too. Other people can stay at home. Frontline workers can’t.

One teacher was just 42 when she died with no health conditions. Plus hospitals are increasingly seeing parent age adults affected by Covid too. Rather than just focusing on teacher vaccines - the whole issue of school safety needs to be addressed both for teachers and the wider community.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/beloved-teacher-no-health-issues-23363331

www.itv.com/news/2021-01-18/covid-intensive-care-matron-tells-of-soul-destroying-moment-of-seeing-families-being-wiped-out

They have decided to vaccinate SEN teachers and we have been offered them - if you look at the stats - someone posted a thread on this a bit ago with the different levels of risk for different school staff -us in SEN are at a massive amount of risk, much more so than in mainstream (this is not a mainstream teacher bashing comment...I'm a teacher why would I do that ...but our job is constant phsyical contact and little to no PPE) and we are being vaccinated ... The one thing that does bother me though about that is - that I think nursery staff should also be vaccinated. As they have the same close contact and no PPE as we do in SEN ... So in sense I think the priorities aren't right. However the rational for us being vaccinated is for the benefit of the vulnerable children and young adults we work with as well, so I suppose that's the difference between us and nursery staff. I still think they should get it too - especially since they're remaining fully open at present !

My school is closed to key workers and vulnerable children for ten days as we have had such a big outbreak. We all going out at 5:30pm the day before. The situation is bad in schools. And I can't for the life of me understand why people are trying to get their dc a place when they don't need one.

I still don't see why we we should get the vaccine before my mum who is waiting by the letterbox every morning and hasn't been out since March or before @Lindy2 husband who works in a prison.

I think many people are up in arms about school staff getting it as a matter or priority as they want their own children back at school because it's affecting them and their lives the most.

@ChristmasinJune
I'd look into that as we've been offered vaccines for next week in our sen school and I have friends who work in different cities right across the country also in SEN schools who have had the vaccine already. I'd get onto your LA because ours put us on the list - it's being given to SEN staff so I wouldn't settle with waiting !!!

If people suggest how anything schools do could be done better, or criticise any plans that schools have made we are told teachers are the experts and know education. Fair enough.

But it is ok for teachers to declare public health policy and how vaccination centres should do things.

The question of who shod be reprioritised is never answered. There is an expectation the HCPs who are WFH should not get vaccinated because if fairness, but the call is ‘for teachers’ to get it with no suggestion of how to logistically manage that similarly.

The fairest way the next group to be vaccinated should be 50-40, 40-30, 30-18. Doing it by profession would be logistical nightmare (key worker school places anyone?). The tragic story of the teacher above proves this. He was 55. Are you suggesting a 20something teacher should go ahead of someone in their 50s who isn't a teacher but is at far higher risk due to age.

I've seen an article today about a proposal being out to ministers to vaccinate 1m schoolteachers in 7 days after half term.
www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9179961/amp/Headteachers-send-Boris-Johnson-plan-vaccinate-one-million-staff-half-term.html

My GP told me on Friday that she wishes all older teachers and clinically vulnerable teachers could get vaccinated as a priority over nhs staff not in front facing roles. For example, my daughters physio hasn't seen anyone face to face for a year. My friend is in a back office doing admin with one other and never even sees a doctor or nurse and she has had hers.

She's horrified that i'm going daily into a bubble of between 20-22 with no mask or protection. I am 49 and am clinically vulnerable due to early menopause, 2 autoimmune conditions and asthma. But I expect the magic walls of school will protect me.

At one point we were offered "spare" vaccines by our council but this has since been rescinded. I believe the "spares" are now being used for the police force. I don't begrudge them that - they need it too- but I do feel like i'm bottom of the pile.

I'm desperate to get my mum (who lives with us) vaccinated as I am a great risk to her, as are my kids who have to be at school when I am. She is 72 with vascular dementia and is on the list waiting. Her carer who pops in when I am at work has been vaccinated. I would rather she get it before me because it worries me terribly that I could bring something home that kills her.

My very fit in laws just over 70 will get a vaccination 💉 before a teacher having to go into a crowd everyday? How is that fair?.
It should also be worked out on viral load.

after the over 50s I would vaccinate the
40yo
and parents
and teachers.
Because if it does stop transmission that is the link to people's workplace.
Creates protection around the children and stops their parents dying or being to sick to care for them.

I would propose that they become group 5 and are vaccinated at half term

My rough and ready guess is that would add about 1-2 weeks to lockdown for the nation (how many are we vaccinating a week now?)

Vaccinating before the clinically vulnerable strikes me as risky.

I don’t have a problem with non front line nhs staff getting vaccines. The amount of work and time it worked take to split employees into different categories would probably mean it would end up taking longer than just doing them all at once. Keep It Simple and Stupid.

The teachers who are at highest risk, i.e. the older ones and the ones with health conditions rendering them vulnerable WILL be vaccinated pretty soon as part of the national roll out program.

Not sure why young and otherwise healthy ones should be put higher up the queue to take the place of older/unhealthier people generally, as they're at least risk of serious consequences or death from covid. Yes, there will be exceptions, and yes, a few young/healthy teachers may well be very badly affected and some may even die, but that is still the risk for those vaccinated as nothing is 100% guaranteed, and is the same in all jobs and among all aged/health groups.

The plan is to target the highest risk groups first. Teachers who aren't older/vulnerable, will be further down the list, but highly likely they'll still be prioritised in some way once the most vulnerable groups have been vaccinated.

@LickEmbysmiling

My very fit in laws just over 70 will get a vaccination 💉 before a teacher having to go into a crowd everyday? How is that fair?. It should also be worked out on viral load.

Because age is by far the greatest risk factor for death from COVID - yes, even if you're fit - so your in-laws are at far greater risk than a teacher who is younger than them.

@WhitechapelLass

If people suggest how anything schools do could be done better, or criticise any plans that schools have made we are told teachers are the experts and know education. Fair enough.

But it is ok for teachers to declare public health policy and how vaccination centres should do things.

The question of who shod be reprioritised is never answered. There is an expectation the HCPs who are WFH should not get vaccinated because if fairness, but the call is ‘for teachers’ to get it with no suggestion of how to logistically manage that similarly.

It's not actually teachers who are demanding they be prioritised. There's a very vocal group of dimwits and their supporters with links to the government and media who are calling for school staff to be vaccinated immediately so their children can get back to school. The Unions agree there is a need for school staff to be vaccinated as do other unions who represent front facing workers feel the same for their members.

@LickEmbysmiling

My very fit in laws just over 70 will get a vaccination 💉 before a teacher having to go into a crowd everyday? How is that fair?. It should also be worked out on viral load.

Because more over 70s are catching it and needing medical treatment, than teachers.

The country can't start to reduce relaxation until numbers are under control and the NHS can then return to doing other things, besides covid, to protect everyone.

Vaccinating teachers before 70 year olds wouldn't ease the pressure on the NHS.

My in laws do not need to go anywhere, keep fit, very slim and do not have to shop at peak periods get deliverys...

Their '' exposure '' to the virus however can be teeny if at all.

A teachers exposure is massive! And un avoidable. Huge amounts of younger people and parents of teens in icu.

@PinkTonic

Who would you propose is de-prioritised to facilitate vaccinating teachers as a group rather than as individuals in accordance with their specific risk?

I would prioritise school staff and university students and staff above work from home 40 somethings like me.

Also agree about taking left over doses into local schools.

@LickEmbysmiling I would really rather not be prioritised for the vaccine over people in their 70s.

Again, it’s about which group being vaccinated will have the biggest impact on hospitalisation rates. Teachers who are older/CV will be fall into those groups, and I imagine I probably will be vaccinated earlier than I would be if I wasn’t a teacher. But I would rather the focus be on what is actually going to stop the NHS being unable to provide adequate care, rather than “well I have to go out in public so I should have it”.

@N0Sl33p

I’d de prioritise any NHS staff working from home and not doing face to face.

Definitely. Although I think a lot are doing a mix so it might not be that easy to organise.

Got to say that I bought into the care home priority at first because of them taking up hospital resources, but now I am not so sure. They're not going to put a 90 year old with advanced dementia or Parkinsons on life support anyway. Personally I think CEV should have been second, after NHS frontline staff and care workers (in homes and house to house).