Are teachers more at risk from covid?

[notevenat20]

Did anyone listen to More or Less discuss this?

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000rvjr

What do you think?

Interesting that it's teachers using the Barts link and booking jabs as health or social care staff.. Same happening in Manchester!

@Waxonwaxoff0
Yes, you can complain. All of you. Together. You are capable of putting an argument together on Mumsnet (because I recognise your name) so don’t pretend you can’t in real life. Yes, you need to be brave - but don’t drag teachers down because you don’t feel safe in your workplace. Fight for your situation to be better too and don’t try to make mine worse.

And by the way, we are all dispensable. In fact, it is very, very easy to get rid of teachers despite what you seem to think, especially older, expensive teachers. The fact remains that you may eventually get another job but you may never recover from long Covid, even if you don’t actually die.

The way I look at it is:

If Covid spreads in the classroom both teachers and parents can be equally at risk. Parents may not be teachers...so the risk is maybe about the same.

However, the risk to those who have associations with a school are probably higher than those who don’t and certainly higher than those who don’t and who get to work from home.

Hope that makes sense.

@Frazzled6

Interesting that it's teachers using the Barts link and booking jabs as health or social care staff.. Same happening in Manchester!

Well a bit naughty if young and healthy but everyone is going to get the jab at some point.

Yes but people are higher priority because of their age. Did you not see the chart that Chris Whitty showed on the news briefing.

Anyway apparently investigations are too be carried out because it's easy to identify those that were not due jabs.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones I'm not dragging teachers down at all. I'm just pointing out why it's perhaps easier for teachers to stand up for their rights than it is for the ignored factory workers on minumum wage.

I'm more scared of losing my job than catching Covid quite frankly.

[quote BustopherPonsonbyJones]@Waxonwaxoff0
Yes, you can complain. All of you. Together. You are capable of putting an argument together on Mumsnet (because I recognise your name) so don’t pretend you can’t in real life. Yes, you need to be brave - but don’t drag teachers down because you don’t feel safe in your workplace. Fight for your situation to be better too and don’t try to make mine worse.

And by the way, we are all dispensable. In fact, it is very, very easy to get rid of teachers despite what you seem to think, especially older, expensive teachers. The fact remains that you may eventually get another job but you may never recover from long Covid, even if you don’t actually die.[/quote]
Look at the cute hedgehog and have a glass of wine or something

Then at some point come back and apologise for just not understanding.

@Frazzled6

Yes but people are higher priority because of their age. Did you not see the chart that Chris Whitty showed on the news briefing.

Anyway apparently investigations are too be carried out because it's easy to identify those that were not due jabs.

Frazzled what is the Barts thing and investigations?

It was on the news Teachers have been using an NHS staff link to book the vaccine jabs. It probably isn't just teachers but the news mentioned teachers.

The Manchester link was even posted on mumsnet yesterday.

Manchester are carrying out investigations..

Oh right thanks.

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum
Goodness, don’t lose your temper but thank you for the lovely picture. Your debating skills must be much admired. You are quite right, however, talking to HR is on my list. I will have to do that because some idiots are still pushing for schools to return without any mitigation because ‘it’s worse for taxi drivers’. I am sure I don’t speak for all teachers - there are quite a few of us - but perhaps open your mind to see a bigger picture than the views shared by you and the teachers in your family. And I still find your middle class prejudice very insulting.

It IS interesting that teachers are trying to book vaccines. I agree it is very wrong but it shows that many of them don’t feel safe, doesn’t it? Why would they bother if they could isolate or work safely?

I'd like my vaccination to take place when it's my turn. I would never dream of getting it before other people who are higher risk of dying.

@Frazzled6
I wouldn’t either if I could work from home. I’d go to the back of the queue.
If you expect me to go into school, my situation changes and I expect to be moved above those who can stay at home.

@Waxonwaxoff0

There are many jobs that are high risk. I do agree that teaching is one of them.

However, teachers have far more job protection than us who work in factories/drive taxis. There are big teaching unions standing up for teachers rights. Teachers have the ability to work from home right now and still get paid.

The reason us factory workers aren't complaining is that we are dispensable. Often earning minimum wage, we can't afford to join unions. We can't work from home. We are easily replaceable as we are often unskilled. We don't get sick pay.

We cannot afford to ruffle feathers and lose our jobs.

I’d just like to say that although teachers may be working at home there are plenty other school staff running the key worker hubs who cannot work from home and are in school full time working with vulnerable and KW children. I am one of them, late 40’s, underlying health condition, children at home with a parent unable to support home learning as working. We are low paid, dispensable staff, can’t complain or let go as many on short term contracts. Schools employ more than teachers and all school staff deserve to feel safe. It’s always the lowest paid who seem to suffer the burden of the risk.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones I'm cringing for you. Teachers are in a very privileged position, in that they can "fight for their rights" with unrivalled job security.

The people trying to jump the queue for vaccinations should be ashamed of themselves. My mum, 70 with lung disease, is waiting for her appointment to come round. My dad, 68 with cancer that spread during lockdown 1, and going in to work every day where he has contact with people in factories and offices, is waiting for his letter to arrive.

I can't believe that teachers are petitioning for themselves to be vaccinated when so many genuinely vulnerable people are still waiting. What an embarrassing sense of entitlement. Especially when the evidence shows that they are at no greater risk of dying from COVID than the general population.

If you expect me to go into school, my situation changes and I expect to be moved above those who can stay at home.

I do agree with this. I know quite a lot of backroom 20something and 30something NHS staff that have worked from home since March and intend to continue to do so. I don't really see that it's fair that they get it before 40-50 year old teachers.

I suppose there will always be some unfairness in any vaccination schedule but some of the behaviours on display are very unpleasant.

And if teachers aren't going to be vaccinated they deserve the same safety measures as other workplaces - for the sake of argument, the house of commons - where they have social distancing and masks.

I didn't listen to the show but personally do want teachers and all public facing workers to get vaccinated asap, preferably simultaneously with the vulnerable age groups because of their potential to be super spreaders. We already have a shortage of teachers in the UK, how will be cope with loads off sick? How many pupils and therefore families would a secondary school interact with in a day? 200/300? Primary schools also seem to be in bubbles of 60/90.

Of course they are. I’m sick of the government waiting for science to prove common sense. Crowded, poorly ventilated spaces for hours at a time is obviously second only to covid wards right now.

Here's the press link www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-55943120

BustopherPonsonbyJones

This is what I said about teachers getting sneaky jabs

'Well a bit naughty if young and healthy but everyone is going to get the jab at some point.'

Why would any rational person find that statement an issue??? Teachers are not on the first priority list. So it is a little naughty but as you can see I don't find it the end of the world. If you have seen my posts on other threads. You would know I am in favour of teachers getting jabbed next. Just not in front of groups 1 to 9. Mostly because the teachers most at risk are in that list already!

Oh and I haven't got middle class prejudice. I grew up having a pony and now live in a massive house in London. Think that is upper class prejudice then 😉 Though I reckon one thing nobody here or in real life would ever call me is prejudice. My posts unlike yours display empathy, compassion and I would never presume anything😏

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum
Your comment about the vaccine hogging was actually the nicest thing you’ve said all night. Naughty teachers, eh? Do you reckon vaccine hogging could be the new ‘drinking gin in the garden instead of teaching my child’? If the naughty teachers were providing live lessons on Zoom, they wouldn’t have time to try and sneak a vaccine, would they?

I’m still not sure about your great display of empathy and compassion though. Taking it as read that you don’t empathise with teachers, where have you actually demonstrated empathy and compassion? Self praise is no praise as Nanny must have said to you.

Ah, just post another picture of a hedgehog. The hedgehog was sweet.

[quote BustopherPonsonbyJones]@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum
Your comment about the vaccine hogging was actually the nicest thing you’ve said all night. Naughty teachers, eh? Do you reckon vaccine hogging could be the new ‘drinking gin in the garden instead of teaching my child’? If the naughty teachers were providing live lessons on Zoom, they wouldn’t have time to try and sneak a vaccine, would they?

I’m still not sure about your great display of empathy and compassion though. Taking it as read that you don’t empathise with teachers, where have you actually demonstrated empathy and compassion? Self praise is no praise as Nanny must have said to you.

Ah, just post another picture of a hedgehog. The hedgehog was sweet.[/quote]
😂😂😂😂😂😂

You really have no idea do you🤪

Read your posts then mine again

I really hope you listen to students better than you do posters on here

You have my sympathy that you clearly are very distressed about going into school. I presume you are currently teaching online? Anyway it is a shit situation for everyone and teachers have been some of the people least looked after. However posters like you hardly encourage the general public to support a drive to get schools safer.

Out of hedgehogs tonight but Bert is about. He could be related to noble I am not sure. I don't speak giraffe

Quite right, truely. I am terrified - like a lot of teachers. Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of empathy on here for teachers, especially from the Us for Them brigade. People ‘like me’ (and there you go again with your generalisation) have stopped worrying about the ‘general public’ doing anything to help and have realised we will need to fight for safer working conditions ourselves, Let’s be honest, even your faux outrage for the conditions some of the working class find themselves in only extends so far as to be used as a further stick with which to beat teachers. Show some real compassion by setting up a thread asking for their working conditions to be improved.

@hobbyiscodefordogging
Cringe away for me all you like - what a strange concept! I am not cringing at your condescending attitude to working class people, I am angry that you think you can tell a whole group of people they are unable to fight for their own rights.

Whilst I am sorry for the sad situation your parents are in, I have said that I would be very happy to stay at home and wait my turn for the vaccine. If you are asking me to go into a classroom, I expect to be given it. If I am not, I will need to make my decisions based on my assessment of the situation, which boils down to health or wealth. Your dad (given he is already ill) should probably do the same and assess the best plan of action and whether he should continue to work. It’s hard as we all have bills to pay.

I can assure you that teaching really isn’t privileged and job security hasn’t existed since 1983. Most schools are MATs and they can do whatever they like.

I hope your father’s treatment goes well.