9 out of 20 students in my class are apparently exempt from mask wearing

[Workyticket]

Taught them in a small room with a slit of a window for 1.5 hours

6 of those 9 had chosen not to take a lateral flow test because their Mum said they didn't have to

Schools and colleges are safe though. Apparently

@noblegiraffe

Still doesn't mean it's not an important study. It puts to bed any idea that mask wearing protects mask wearers.

No it doesn’t. I thought you said you could read academic studies?

Blimey.

Yes it does, they monitored infection rates - 1.9% in mask users and 2.1 % in non-maskers.

Such a small statistical difference that they clearly state this tiny difference could be explained by other factors.

Read the article, as others are free to, don't rely on me, anyone interested should read it at source. It's the biggest RCT on the subject with a control group and a sample size of around 6000.

@Belladonna12

Brilliantly put noblegiraffe as a 57 year old, unvaccinated, support staff member dealing with 30 ten and eleven year olds and two other members of staff in a poorly ventilated classroom day after day, I feel very vulnerable and anxious.

You should be able to book vaccination now if you are in your late 50s.

Booking just opened up to the over 55s as of Monday but that does not mean appointments are available straight away.

The first appointments are for next week and then won't confer immunity until 3 weeks after vaccination. So people aged 55-59 will basically be working with no protection for 4 weeks starting March 8th and lasting until the Easter holidays. Sure, they will be unlucky to catch it in those 4 weeks but it would be nice if parents would help them to feel a bit safer at work in the meantime by encouraging their children to get tests/wear masks if not medically exempt.

Booking just opened up to the over 55s as of Monday but that does not mean appointments are available straight away.

The first appointments are for next week and then won't confer immunity until 3 weeks after vaccination. So people aged 55-59 will basically be working with no protection for 4 weeks starting March 8th and lasting until the Easter holidays. Sure, they will be unlucky to catch it in those 4 weeks but it would be nice if parents would help them to feel a bit safer at work in the meantime by encouraging their children to get tests/wear masks if not medically exempt.

They were open on Sunday actually. DH got an appointment for Monday. I'm not saying it's the same everywhere but you can't insist that everyone has to wait for weeks wherever they live. It doesn't take four weeks for any immunity to develop. It will take a week or two the most people. Infections are low at the moment and are likely to be for the next couple weeks so I think the risk is pretty low. I agree parents should help make things safer that I haven't said otherwise so not sure what your point is.

that but

It said 56 and over on the NHS website on Sunday then 55 and over on Monday. Anyway, we are talking about the difference of one day. The point is people don't necessarily get appointments straight away - round here they have to wait a good week and you don't get immunity after one week either.

I have only ever seen scientists refer to partial immunity after 2 weeks and a good level of immunity after 3.

My point was you were saying you should be able to get an appointment now but the 55s to 59s will probably not have been able to get an appointment before schools reopended on March 8th so they had to go back into school before being vaccinated.

Three weeks was said several times in the briefing the other day. Shortening it to one or two doesn't make you correct.

Group 6 (the clinically vulnerable) is nowhere near complete in many areas.

This gets on my nerves, I get children have to come first but1 I dont believe all the kids were pining for school when about a decade ago when I was at school the people I know wouldn't have been and there's electronics that are more widely available to keep in contact with friends and school work and government help for those that didn't have computers etc.

I'm not saying its a bad things schools going back either but it annoys me that millions of adults are still kept indoors being responsible when being vulnerable both mentally and physically so they can go back to school but nobody seems to care enough to do the smallest concessions ( mask wearing and tests really aren't that much of an ask) so others can do things that they want to for their health both mental and physical. So selfish.

It said 56 and over on the NHS website on Sunday then 55 and over on Monday. Anyway, we are talking about the difference of one day. The point is people don't necessarily get appointments straight away - round here they have to wait a good week and you don't get immunity after one week either.

There will more appointments now as there is an increase in vaccine stock so you can't really go on your individual previous experience. Most people will get some immunity after one week. It just won't be maximal. Any protection is better than none though so worth getting an appointment as soon as possible .

@MintyMabel

But statistically, you will be fine.

Statistically DD shouldn’t have been born with her disability. If there was something I could have done to avoid it, I would have done.

“statistically you’ll be fine” is the most useless piece of advice in any situation.

Society has to work on statistics and averages otherwise we'd be in a hell of a state.

Statistics are incredibly valuable.

Group 6 (the clinically vulnerable) is nowhere near complete in many areas.

That doesn't mean that people over 55 can't book.

There is certainly a wait for vaccinations in my area. My CV dd has just had hers yesterday, told it will be three weeks for immunity to build, so she won't have full protection until at least Easter. My dh who is 58 has an appointment booked for three weeks, so any teachers in a similar situation wouldn't be protected for another six weeks.
I think the minimising of teachers concerns and them being told to just suck it up is cruel. I suspect if covid starts spreading through the younger generations there will be an outcry, it seems madness not to do all we can to prevent that from happening.

@Belladonna I have my vaccination appointment booked. I will not have the increased immunity it affords until after the Easter holidays. I just have to hope I don't get Covid in the next three weeks.
In December we went from zero cases to 44 staff cases and a similar number of pupil cases before we broke up for Christmas so it's certainly not a foregone conclusion that i or my colleagues won't get ill in that time.

@noblegiraffe

A 57 year old in good health isnt at any more risk in a classroom than a 57 year old in a supermarket or hairdressers, statistically proven

Hairdressers are closed so presumably they are currently at much less risk than the 57 year old in the classroom.

Not sure where you have got your info about supermarkets from.

Sorry should have chosen one that is open (which they will be in a few weeks time - not because they are more at risk than teachers, thats not why theyre closed - obviously hospital frontline workers are still working and are most at risk). The info was from Chris Whitty, JVT et al who all said that teachers were no more at risk than any other occupation (and less so than many others) that was my point.

Its grim for you. DD2s school sent an email around saying that no child had to take the test and that the parents of any child who was unwilling to do so should contact the deputy head who would then make arrangements for them to continue to study from home. Seemed a sensible approach to take.

@FrustratedTeddyLamp

This gets on my nerves, I get children have to come first but1 I dont believe all the kids were pining for school when about a decade ago when I was at school the people I know wouldn't have been and there's electronics that are more widely available to keep in contact with friends and school work and government help for those that didn't have computers etc.

I'm not saying its a bad things schools going back either but it annoys me that millions of adults are still kept indoors being responsible when being vulnerable both mentally and physically so they can go back to school but nobody seems to care enough to do the smallest concessions ( mask wearing and tests really aren't that much of an ask) so others can do things that they want to for their health both mental and physical. So selfish.

See. There it is again. "Selfish". These kids (most of them) have lost 7 months of education, friendships, normality and a large percentage of their young ages to be locked down - not for THEIR benefit but to protect those you described. How do you know those kids that werent wearing masks hadnt already tested negative? You dont. How do you know theyre not suicidal like another poster said, you dont. Its bang out of order to judge individuals - maybe those kids cant even afford masks or their parents have forbidden them to use them, who knows, but please dont imply that these kids are selfish or dont deserve to be in school when theyve sacrificed SO much.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief

@Belladonna I have my vaccination appointment booked. I will not have the increased immunity it affords until after the Easter holidays. I just have to hope I don't get Covid in the next three weeks. In December we went from zero cases to 44 staff cases and a similar number of pupil cases before we broke up for Christmas so it's certainly not a foregone conclusion that i or my colleagues won't get ill in that time.

Although by those figures, many have immunity hopefully now so would be unlikely to get it again.

The info was from Chris Whitty, JVT et al who all said that teachers were no more at risk than any other occupation

Risk of what? And are you sure they said any other occupation?

I didn't say it did belladonna.

Students self exempt so they just say 'anxiety' and then thats them wandering around with no mask. Same with tests - they just say no and thats it. Not cool to do the test and be choking etc so many are not doing it.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief

@Belladonna I have my vaccination appointment booked. I will not have the increased immunity it affords until after the Easter holidays. I just have to hope I don't get Covid in the next three weeks. In December we went from zero cases to 44 staff cases and a similar number of pupil cases before we broke up for Christmas so it's certainly not a foregone conclusion that i or my colleagues won't get ill in that time.

You may have gone from 0 to 44 cases in your school but that was because cases were quite high in the community in general. They are lower now and so that's kind of increase in a couple of weeks is unlikely. As I said, I agree with the facemasks. I can sympathise with people not wanting to do the tests as they are inaccurate and there is a good chance students and their families will be told to isolate for no good reason. If they change the policy so that the PCR test results override lateral flow test results there may be more uptake.

You mean like the majority of other people? Who have lost their livelihoods, friendships ( although a lot can be done online and already was for a lot of people) relationships, health treatment/ their actual lives. There was education available online for a lot of children.

And whilst I'm aware of the statistics of children getting severely ill/ death of the virus I'm sure they also didn't want to kill their granny or parents or other people they know are vulnerable, which isn't a small %.

And they tested negative, so what? You can test negative and then a few hours later be positive. I'll admit I've not seen the other poster talk about the children being suicidal but I'm not sure how not wearing a mask or taking a test will worsen their mental health further?

And I wasn't talking solely about the children but also their parents who are telling them not to like you see on here telling telling not to because they don't want them home as its an inconvenience.

"The info was from Chris Whitty, JVT et al who all said that teachers were no more at risk than any other occupation (and less so than many others) that was my point."
Thank goodness they don't have a vested interest in getting schools open without adequate health and safety measures in place then!
Teachers are at increased risk than most, that stands to reason, with 30 plus individuals in a small space, support staff are at an increased risk to teachers as they can not do their jobs at a distance.
I certainly wouldn't suggest they are more at risk than healthcare professionals but at least healthcare professionals have been vaccinated.
I think all key workers who are dealing with people face to face should have been prioritised for vaccination after health and careworkers/carers.
I can assure you if I had been able to wfh I would have been much less 'hysterical' about this pandemic.

People moaning about the situation we're in but helping prolonging it.

And I swear I pressed the quote button but my longer post was to @palacegirl77

Yes it does, they monitored infection rates - 1.9% in mask users and 2.1 % in non-maskers

Do you know what confidence intervals are? The study states "Although the difference observed was not statistically significant, the 95% CIs are compatible with a 46% reduction to a 23% increase in infection."

Their first limitation listed is "Inconclusive results".

So anyone looking at that study and claiming that it puts to bed any idea that mask wearing protects mask wearers. doesn't know what they're talking about.

Read the article, as others are free to, don't rely on me, anyone interested should read it at source.

I did, I have, and it doesn't say what you are claiming.

Here's a quote from the study conclusion "Yet, the findings were inconclusive and cannot definitively exclude a 46% reduction to a 23% increase in infection of mask wearers in such a setting. It is important to emphasize that this trial did not address the effects of masks as source control or as protection in settings where social distancing and other public health measures are not in effect."

So it has nothing to say either, about the protective effect or otherwise of masks in a classroom where social distancing is not being observed.