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Original poster

School not vaccinating 15 year olds

55 replies

Kaftankween · 01/10/2021 22:46

Today our school invited years 7-10 to consent to vaccination. When we queried this (year 11) we were told the immunisation body had said year 11s could wait to be vaccinated through the public system at 16.

Surely this cannot be right. What about those who are not 16 until next spring/summer? This is the gcse year after all.

Why would all year 7s be invited when most of them won't be eligible as they're still 11, but literally no year 11s?

I've been tearing my hair out trying to get to the bottom of this. School is insisting that the decision is with the immunisation team. The immunisation team just gave an answerphone.

What is the situation for other year 11s?

OP posts:
Tastytoast · 02/10/2021 08:56

The whole thing is a shitshow. My 15 year old previously advised to shield is not vaccinated because the GP is saying that vaccines can now be done in school so they don't need to do it and the council appears to be doing mainstream first to get largest numbers vaccinated so ds probably won't get offered a vaccine until November.

Frazzled2207 · 02/10/2021 08:59

Sounds very wrong. Presumably other parents are annoyed about this? Can you encourage others to kick up a fuss too?

And you can find out what other schools in the council are doing? If this really is their policy then there ought to be quite a lot of angry parents.

OxanaVorontsova · 02/10/2021 08:59

Schools aren’t the decision makers in the vaccination programme

Frazzled2207 · 02/10/2021 09:00

@blameitonthecaffeine

Our vaccinations aren't till 2nd November so some pupils have been to have them out of school already because they wanted to be done in time for half term. Could you do that?

Seems like something's gone wrong but you don't have to use the school for vaccine

I was fairly sure you did tbh. At least in England. Round here vaccine centres for whatever reason (something to do with the consent issue) won’t vaccinated anyone under 16.
BlackeyedSusan · 02/10/2021 09:06

Ask the exams officer at school what the process is if the young in year catch COVID in the run up to mocks and exams? Focus their mind on where it hurts...

DorotheaDiamond · 02/10/2021 09:09

@blameitonthecaffeine

Our vaccinations aren't till 2nd November so some pupils have been to have them out of school already because they wanted to be done in time for half term. Could you do that?

Seems like something's gone wrong but you don't have to use the school for vaccine

Where did they get done out of school??? Please tell…desperate to get dd done and no sign of school date…
blameitonthecaffeine · 02/10/2021 09:10

Frazzled I think there has to be an alternative to schools doing it because a) schools don't have to agree to have vaccines on site, b) what about children who are absent or recently recovered from Covid on jab day and c) what about children who turn 12 after jab day?

blameitonthecaffeine · 02/10/2021 09:12

Sorry Dorothea I don't know. Just heard a couple of kids talking about sore arms and having the jabs ready for half term. Private school so possibly money talks in getting done privately?

Tastytoast · 02/10/2021 09:29

In England only those who are in the vulnerable group can have the vaccination outside of the school vaccination service and from what I have heard, that route has pretty much stopped for now.

Frazzled2207 · 02/10/2021 09:33

@blameitonthecaffeine

Frazzled I think there has to be an alternative to schools doing it because a) schools don't have to agree to have vaccines on site, b) what about children who are absent or recently recovered from Covid on jab day and c) what about children who turn 12 after jab day?
Don’t disagree with any of that but I know that round here it’s basically a case or wait until we come to your school, if you miss it or it’s ages away that’s tough. Obviously there will have to be accommodations for people you describe at some point. But there doesn’t seem to be yet.
Original poster
Kaftankween · 02/10/2021 09:50

Yes there are quite a few parents querying and making a fuss. I don't think it's possible to get your 15yo vaccinated elsewhere unless you/they are vulnerable or you have some kind of contact where you could swing this.

Other schools locally (I hear anecdotally) have included year 11 so I simply cannot understand why the immunisation team is advising our school that year 11 are 'rising 16' and as such should wait for the public programme.

Honestly I've hardly slept. I'm so incensed by the ineptitude of someone somewhere, who is closely involved with schools, not realising y11 are mostly not 'rising 16' imminently but are the age 15 group the vaccine is supposed to capture. This is the exam year! Have more care. I'm more upset about this than potentially not receiving the vaccine if you know what I mean?

OP posts:
BarefootHippieChick · 02/10/2021 10:01

It seems such a shitshow doing the vaccinations in schools that I'm wondering if within the next few months other places will have to become available, like the current walk in centres for older teenagers. I've heard nothing whatsoever from our school yet.

Teaandtonic · 02/10/2021 10:22

It won't be the schools fault. They just facilitate. It'll be a local decision with the immunisation team.

Frazzled2207 · 02/10/2021 10:26

@Teaandtonic

It won't be the schools fault. They just facilitate. It'll be a local decision with the immunisation team.
While this is true I think your best bet is to play the “this could really play havoc with GCSEs” card and ask the school to challenge it.
idiotfacelicker · 02/10/2021 10:27

On the exams point, what is the protocol for a child that test positive for Covid days before their exam? Will isolation be suspended for exam student? It has to be otherwise child can't do exam, so will there be special covid rooms where all the covid positives take their exam? Do schools have space for this? Who will invigilator in a room
Full of covid positive teens?

Sorry tomhijack but I keep asking this and no one has an answer. It's insane!

middleager · 02/10/2021 10:30

I have two year 11s at different schools.

Both have been invited for vaccinations, although one is now not eligible as he had Covid last week.

Tastytoast · 02/10/2021 10:35

"On the exams point, what is the protocol for a child that test positive for Covid days before their exam? Will isolation be suspended for exam student? It has to be otherwise child can't do exam,"

At the moment they would be treated the same as any other child that is unable to sit an exam on a particular day. I cannot see them being allowed in school.

Original poster
Kaftankween · 02/10/2021 10:41

It probably isn't the school's fault but I posted to see if anyone is in the same boat. No one is. No other school locally seems to have the same issue. So I have to wonder whether the immunisation team asked the school to provide a list of eligible kids and they've just said oh that's years 7-10. Why year 7? Only a handful will even be eligible unlike year 11 where only a handful are ineligible.

OP posts:
Teatotally · 02/10/2021 10:45

The school I work at and my daughter's school also ran out of time to vaccinate all the students whose parents had consented due to the high demand. They need to come back in two weeks to do vaccines for Year 11s by which time more children will have been infected. I don't want to criticise the staff delivering the vaccine as it must to a really difficult job but you'd have thought it would have been more sensible to start with Year 11 and work backwards given that they have exams this year and are least able to miss school. I say this as a parent of a Year 9 who has been vaccinated but it's an odd delivery model.

Peanutsandchilli · 02/10/2021 11:12

As I understand it, our school is offering the vaccination to children who are 12 before October 8th, up to children who don't turn 16 before January 8th. I must admit, it's confused me though. That means that the older year 11s will be vaccinated through the same invite system as adults, but only the oldest of year 7 will be eligible.

idiotfacelicker · 02/10/2021 11:25

@Tastytoast

"On the exams point, what is the protocol for a child that test positive for Covid days before their exam? Will isolation be suspended for exam student? It has to be otherwise child can't do exam,"

At the moment they would be treated the same as any other child that is unable to sit an exam on a particular day. I cannot see them being allowed in school.

So large numbers of potentially perfectly well feeling children being prevented from taking important exams and failing to get eg a maths gcse as a result? Is this seriously the plan??

Pre covid a student will go in for their exam if they get out of bed, in they go. It's their GCSE exam! No one can think this is right??

MrsHamlet · 02/10/2021 12:40

@BlackeyedSusan

Ask the exams officer at school what the process is if the young in year catch COVID in the run up to mocks and exams? Focus their mind on where it hurts...
The exams officer will have nothing whatsoever to do with any of this. The schools provide the data that has been requested by the vaccination team and the venue. That's it.
Longtalljosie · 02/10/2021 12:44

If your MP is any good, one raised eyebrow from them should do the trick. What’s your local media like, do you have a strong local paper?

Cet73 · 02/10/2021 13:42

Our dd secondary school are not offering the vaccine to year 7 . Doesn't affect my dd but I would feel cross if my dd was in yr 7 ....and even more so if they missing out yr 11. Sounds ridiculous.

careerchangeperhaps · 02/10/2021 14:39

@idiotfacelicker

I would be furious about this what if they catch covid just before the start of GCSE exams (this is of course a concern even without vaccinations given isolation requirements)
But you can still catch (and be quite poorly with) Covid, even if you've been vaccinated. Everyone I know that's had Covid in the last few weeks is double-vaccinated.
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