Are teachers getting invites for Vaccination?

[To2do]

I've seen a few posts now where teachers have been invited for a vaccine (outside of the given order stated by the JCVI ).

Has a decision been made to include teachers in one of the higher groups?

Not that I've heard. But this has been done to death surely? I don't know any teachers who have said they think they should have a vaccine now. But every time I look on MN there's a debate about teachers and whether or not they are more at risk. Why the obsession with teachers?

As it happens I think postal workers and recycling workers should go first as they are handling lots of things all day and germs do stay on packages and recycling items. So although they are outdoors they are I think at risk.

Then police & prison staff are often dealing with clients at close quarters.

It's become a real divider, a bit like the threads about parents sending children into school, or whether someone can use a parent for childcare.

It is not about whether teachers are more at risk at dying- if they are off sick with Covid they can’t work and classes will close. We have had 17 cases and the staff have been off from 10’days to 8 weeks- with the average about 4-5 weeks and a staggered return. Schools can’t cope with so much staff sickness as well as staff isolating. It is not rocket science!

I'm in SEN school none of us have been called. Depends if your council classes you as care staff or school staff- no gov. Guidelines 🙄 so at their discretion. Apparently changing nappies and tube feeding in a care home is care but in school its education so no vaccine for us!

@AllAroundTheWrekin

Normal teachers can't socially distance either.

Honestly anyone who thinks they can must have been on the planet Mars.

We're not talking kids getting up close in a mainstream school. I taught in a special school for many years. I loved the kids, but they were prone to leaking from every orifice*. Some spat when they were frustrated or angry. Very few were able to manage their nasal secretions which ended up smeared everywhere (often wiped on my clothes), and many had issues with toileting. All the TAs used to have hand sanitiser clipped on to their belts or jeans tabs, long before hand sanitiser was a thing for us all.

And of course some kids had health issues of their own.
It's absolutely fair for staff in special schools to be vaccinated before mainstream. For their, and their pupils' sake.

*apologies to any parents of SEN children here, Believe me, I was passionate about the kids and my work. But sometimes a sense of humour was needed!

Not all of group 1 have had there second vaccine yet. I'm a care assistant and waiting for. My 2nd but got to wait 12 weeks

@Vivana

Not all of group 1 have had there second vaccine yet. I'm a care assistant and waiting for. My 2nd but got to wait 12 weeks

Everyone has to wait 12 weeks. That's the standard now. You're not having to wait because a few teachers are getting their first one. The govt decided that they wanted as many people as possible to get the first one, so made 12 weeks the gap for everyone. Only a very few people got a second one in before that decision was made.

@Crazydogmumma

It is not about whether teachers are more at risk at dying- if they are off sick with Covid they can’t work and classes will close. We have had 17 cases and the staff have been off from 10’days to 8 weeks- with the average about 4-5 weeks and a staggered return. Schools can’t cope with so much staff sickness as well as staff isolating. It is not rocket science!

You are right it’s not rocket science, yet you don’t seem to get it

I totally support teachers in having more protection in schools every which way mentioned on umpteen posts, and support schools not being open until infection rates are lower. I do believe they are at a higher risk than average professions of course. Although many professions are just as risky or more so

But it’s not about that. It’s about reducing pressure on the NHS, not just for COVID but for cancer treatment, heart attacks, mental health..... and the way to do that is to leave it to the professionals to prioritise based on clinical risk and need. I want teachers who are ill with these ailments to get treatment too

The more people jump the queue and don’t accept professional independent opinion on this the longer this will all go on for

LemonTT: I appreciate you may be frustrated at this situation but I received the text message direct from the NHS offering me the vaccine. I didn’t contact them in any way- the school was approached by someone who works for the NHS obviously senior enough to get it done and asked for a list of names. You’d be sacking a whole school of teachers, TAs and everyone else. I think as another post said it might even be unofficial policy. Soon everyone will be vaccinated. I’ve been spending weeks in school with kids who can’t socially distance and who shouldn’t be there in the first place as parents are at home lying about being key workers (we know which ones and don’t appreciate it!!) Should they be investigated too as you put it? No of course not, just like teachers who’ve had the jab as individual authorities/health workers have taken pity on them.

Still some over 80s and NHS nurses to be done. Clearly one wonders if the vaccine mentioned by Pleasehelp3wi is why they are still waiting?

Some areas are vaccinating the over 65s already. Will you be blaming them for those over 80s still waiting?

Probably

As long as some are not jumping the list by nefarious means it makes no difference to me. Suggesting getting it because of who you know is however wrong in my view.

My children go to a special school and the teachers were all invited to make appointments last week. Most have been vaccinated niw and a few are going this week so yes special school teachers are getting the vacine which I am delighted about as a parent of vulnerable children.

@Alwaysready

I'm in SEN school none of us have been called. Depends if your council classes you as care staff or school staff- no gov. Guidelines 🙄 so at their discretion. Apparently changing nappies and tube feeding in a care home is care but in school its education so no vaccine for us!

And yet no nursery workers anywhere who also change nappies day in and out and have shit and snot wiped on them are considered important enough to have it .::

www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/briefing/marjorie-taylor-greene-uk-vaccine-biden-stimulus.html

Summary of this article: part of the reason why many left-leaning places which normally do healthcare stuff quite well are failing at getting the vaccine out quickly enough, is because endless, endless fuss-budgetry about THIS person versus THAT person versus THIS sub group versus THAT subgroup etc. etc. etc. etc. , is slowing the process up.

If you want to get the vaccine out fast, the best solution is to adopt a "quick and dirty" process---do it roughly in order of age (over 80s, over 75s, over 70s), and any doses that are left over, just stick them in the arms of whoever is available. Jab, jab, jab. Do it fast.

Non stop arguments about exact, granular prioritization, and outrage when a spare shot gets given to someone who isn't EXACTLY FIRST on the priority list etc., is having a chilling effect on the process, making doctors less willing to make swift judgment calls and be speedy, and is resulting in more vaccine being thrown away.

@user1477391263

www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/briefing/marjorie-taylor-greene-uk-vaccine-biden-stimulus.html

Summary of this article: part of the reason why many left-leaning places which normally do healthcare stuff quite well are failing at getting the vaccine out quickly enough, is because endless, endless fuss-budgetry about THIS person versus THAT person versus THIS sub group versus THAT subgroup etc. etc. etc. etc. , is slowing the process up.

If you want to get the vaccine out fast, the best solution is to adopt a "quick and dirty" process---do it roughly in order of age (over 80s, over 75s, over 70s), and any doses that are left over, just stick them in the arms of whoever is available. Jab, jab, jab. Do it fast.

Non stop arguments about exact, granular prioritization, and outrage when a spare shot gets given to someone who isn't EXACTLY FIRST on the priority list etc., is having a chilling effect on the process, making doctors less willing to make swift judgment calls and be speedy, and is resulting in more vaccine being thrown away.

The article actually recognises that the Uk (presumably what we are talking about in this particular thread) is doing well speed wise. It doesn’t endorse prioritising the wrong groups. The whole point of vaccine prioritisation is to keep out of hospital those who are statistically likely to be serious ill as a consequence of the virus. That’s how the jcvi classes were drawn up.

There's a real difference between having a couple of vaccines left over, and sticking them in anyone with an arm rather than a bin, and a senior NHS official making a decision to over-ride the JCVI priority by inviting all the teachers at their kid's school to book appointments.

The first I absolutely support. Every additional vaccine gets us that much closer to everyone being vaccinated.

The second is an appalling abuse of their position. If it has actually happened then I am genuinely shocked. If I knew where it had happened I would have no issues at all in reporting it to the local NHS commissioning team.

"And yet no nursery workers anywhere who also change nappies day in and out and have shit and snot wiped on them are considered important enough to have it .::"

Special school staff are more likely to do medical procedures, work with clinically vulnerable children ( every child/teenager in ds's school is CV because they have a learning disability) or children who have risky behaviours beyond snot wiping etc and if the child brings it home from school and the parents catch it then there may be difficulties caring for a child who has a complex needs. Parents who may well be older than parents of nursery age children. School is definitely the most likely route for Covid to get into our home. Special school staff are also more difficult to replace if self isolating and so families end up losing their only respite.

@Sockwomble

"And yet no nursery workers anywhere who also change nappies day in and out and have shit and snot wiped on them are considered important enough to have it .::"

Special school staff are more likely to do medical procedures, work with clinically vulnerable children ( every child/teenager in ds's school is CV because they have a learning disability) or children who have risky behaviours beyond snot wiping etc and if the child brings it home from school and the parents catch it then there may be difficulties caring for a child who has a complex needs. Parents who may well be older than parents of nursery age children. School is definitely the most likely route for Covid to get into our home. Special school staff are also more difficult to replace if self isolating and so families end up losing their only respite.

The point remains though that nursery staff are very exposed and are given absolutely no attention whatsoever in this (I’m not a nursery worker !!. And not necessarily true that parents will be younger and often have siblings in school

The point is that special school staff are being vaccinated because a large part of their role, particularly at the moment, is social care. The main reason for vaccinating ( as far as the local authorities that are doing it are concerned) is to protect that role.

And if the parents of those young people become ill the local authority has a far bigger problem on their hands than with children who don't have special needs.

I think the sticking point with teachers is that ppe is specifically discouraged / not allowed in the DfE guidance. It hinders communication and learning apparently. So teachers are not on a level playing field with roles that are allowed mitigations such as perspex, masks and distancing.

DH is a teacher, in small classrooms

There's been no change to the priority groups and teachers as a progression are not within those. Some may well be sort of the priority groups however - group 4 will include some school staff, as will group 6. The age groups will soon drop down to include some teachers, TAs and school staff, once they get to 60+ and 50+ so will be invited then

However, I know that staff who work in SEND schools are prioritised now and are eligible due to the nature of their work.

@yearinyearout

Only teachers in the highest vulnerability groups or providing lots of personal care in SEN settings are getting invited.

Not true. I have two friends who are teaching assistants in a special needs school, they aren't clinically vulnerable and don't do personal care but had their jab last week (as did the rest of the staff in their school)

Those TAs will be called due to working in SEND schools. For ease of processing and because often staff have to swap roles on occasion, or their role makes the job of the others most possible, they haven't only included the staff with the highest level of personal care.