Why havent they prioritised frontline workers over 60 year olds getting the vaccination?

[tumpymummy]

I totally understand that those with underlying health issues and the elderly needed to be vaccinated first. But what I dont understand is why over 60s are now being vaccinated and frontline workers are not? In less than 2 weeks time all children return to school. Nothing has changed in schools since September, and myself and colleagues will spend our days in small classrooms with 32 children just waiting for the infection and circles of self isolating bubbles to start again. Yet lots of my friends in their early 60s have now been vaccinated. They do not have health issues, a lot of them arent even working. Most of them spend all day at home, not really seeing anyone. Yet frontline workers have spent the last year working, risking their health, for no benefit whatsoever.

@Radio4Rocks teachers would still have to isolate even with the vaccine though

"I'm a teacher and all we can hope is that all the families of the kids we teach actually follow the rules and don't go nuts trying to see loads of different people etc"

Families will also be thinking that about teachers.

Because a 60 year old is MUCH more likely to die than a 30 year old teacher

Are Teachers frontline?

Keyworker maybe, front line? No

Many of are working face to face, not just teachers. You cannot prioritise based on occupation unless everyone who works outside the home is offered the vaccine. Supermarket workers, transport and those of us organising funerals!

I’m 61 and a teacher. I’ve not been offered the vaccine!

I know. I'm just fed up with those who dislike teachers pretending they want to jump some notional queue when the reason for vaccinating them is for the good of the whole community and to keep schools open if possible.

@Soontobe60

Everyone over 60 can now book online

@Radio4Rocks

I know. I'm just fed up with those who dislike teachers pretending they want to jump some notional queue when the reason for vaccinating them is for the good of the whole community and to keep schools open if possible.

It’s not about disliking teachers, I’m hugely grateful to them. It’s about parity of treatment to a LOT of other essential workers too

@Radio4Rocks

It doesnt work like that. Even if teachers were vaccinated they would still have to isolate and follow the rules the same

@Soontobe60 Over 60s can now book their vaccine directly online (in England)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4175341-Everyone-over-60-can-now-book-themselves-MNHQ-editing-to-say-Everyone-in-England

It’s interesting people saying ‘you can’t prioritise by occupation’ so teachers just need to work unvaccinated without social distancing/masks and just lump it.

I know of people in their 20s/30s with no health risks who have been jabbed who...

do IT work remotely for the NHS
are Psychologists working from home
Are LA specialist teaching staff working from home.
Speech therapists working from home.

They can prioritise by profession, they just don’t want to.

When people working from home get vaccinated by virtue of their job, but others working with hundreds of others at very close quarters do not, something is very wrong.

The occupations data show that teachers are a low risk from Covid-19, there are many jobs that are much much higher risk, with lower security and lower paid. I think it's incredibly short sighted of (some) teachers on here to go on and on about how they are at such high risk and must be bumped up the priority list against all the evidence.

I don't think it's worth debating this on here.

People seem to assume all teachers are young 25 year old perky NQTs! That's not necessarily the case. I'm definitely more middle aged.

Closing schools was never about protecting teachers. Why do people think that schools are closed to keep teachers safe? Schools are closed because students sit so close to each other all day long in poorly ventilated rooms. It's about protecting the community and extended families.

Despite discussions on here covid does spread faster in schools than elsewhere. But people who haven't spent a full day as a secondary school teacher seeing around 180 people a day won't really get it

I personally think recycling staff & postmen handle a lot of stuff so perhaps they should be up there. Honestly there's no point trying to get people to see how it is in schools. You'll get no empathy on here.

No benefit other than full pay and still having a job. The vaccine has to be given to those MOST LIKELY to be seriously ill from it and however you try and spin it there is no evidence that this includes teachers. Bus drivers, yes, ethnic minorities, yes, but not teachers. Of course someone over 60 should get it before a 25 year old teacher and a 50 year old teacher will get it before a 25 year old window cleaner. We cant vaccinate everyone at once and it must be based on facts and statistics to save the most lives, not to stop everyone from getting it.

That's because the statistics for teachers were over a 9 month period from March to December, 6 months of which schools were closed to all but a few.
If you think about it all the infections and deaths were actually mainly concentrated in a 3 month period from September to December. Then you get a true picture and see that actually rates in teachers were very high.

How many times does this need to be said or do people just not listen/read.

No harm in repeating things. Not everyone reads all the threads on mumsnet.
They may not listen/watch the news or perhaps they don't understand it.

Police, prison officers and teachers should be prioritised due to their increased risk of exposure (this is after the current round of vaccinations are completed for all over 50s).

Well I think the OP has the answer now!

Genuinely though it's not about teacher bashing or denying that teachers are at some risk. I am fully supportive of in school measures to minimise their risk, and shutting schools if infection rates get high

But I want a teacher who has cancer or a heart attack or whatever to also get medical treatment. And the best way to do that us to vaccinate those who are more likely to be sick from covid first So the nhs has capacity to help everyone

Aren't they issuing further vaccination priority guidance soon? I think teachers will be high on the list after over 50s?

@MuddyWalks

Police, prison officers and teachers should be prioritised due to their increased risk of exposure (this is after the current round of vaccinations are completed for all over 50s).

That’s a very middle class view of reality of exposure in professions !

@sleepwouldbenice

Well I think the OP has the answer now!

Genuinely though it's not about teacher bashing or denying that teachers are at some risk. I am fully supportive of in school measures to minimise their risk, and shutting schools if infection rates get high

But I want a teacher who has cancer or a heart attack or whatever to also get medical treatment. And the best way to do that us to vaccinate those who are more likely to be sick from covid first So the nhs has capacity to help everyone

Aren't they issuing further vaccination priority guidance soon? I think teachers will be high on the list after over 50s?

Jcvi met this week and post group 9 guidance is awaited. The press are suggesting it’ll be worked down in age bands ie 40-50 rather than profession. To me (for the reasons above) that makes sense as it is consistent with what our apparent original strategy was of not overwhelming the nhs rather than zero covid

Can I ask if your 60 year old + friends who stay at home generally do knitting and baking all day? A poster with a similar thread yesterday said that in her opinion 60+ do that all day. I need to find this place! I don't want to work to 67 and beyond.
As others have said, a 63 year old has a statistically higher chance of taking up a hospital bed and resources than an under 50 year old teacher.
As we've seen, people can catch it during out-patient appointments, in supermarkets and from carers. So generally staying at home isn't a guarantee of not catching it. That's if they even can stay home. Lots of 60+ work.

DH is a key worker. He is currently working alone in our study. He doesn't have to see a single person so changing it to keyworkers makes even less sense.

@JaninaDuszejko

The occupations data show that teachers are a low risk from Covid-19, there are many jobs that are much much higher risk, with lower security and lower paid. I think it's incredibly short sighted of (some) teachers on here to go on and on about how they are at such high risk and must be bumped up the priority list against all the evidence.

This data from the ONS?

Try emailing your MP rather than just posting on Mumsnet?

As keyworkers in essential frontline 'prioritised' sectors I would prefer school staff,police & prison workers were vaccinated asap - those public sector workers coming into contact with multiple people a day who are not socially distanced/ not wearing PPE.

The Goverment seem keen to tell us about all the sectors it has 'put its arms around' but school staff seem to have been excluded from that!

There are still lots of people working in their 60s but there are also lots like my PIL that are retired and sitting safely at home who won't encounter as much risk as school staff. Let's hope they keep rattling through vaccinations so school staff get there vaccinations soon - so at least the risk of severe illness is reduced for them.

It is what it is you will get it when you get it, getting a bit sick of everyone wanting to jump queue because of profession.

I work in a hospital building subcontracting and we haven't been offered it. Crazy thing is my sister has had it, my parents are booked in, but out of them I am only one who is working and can't stay at home but willing to wait.