How schools will stay open without priority teacher vaccinations?

[CadburysCrunchie]

I'm not a teacher, but I am wondering how our children's schools will stay open (and we can continue going to work) without teaching staff being given some sort of priority for the covid vaccination?

My child's school has already completely shut for two weeks in November due to rapidly increasing cases, then reopened, and now with 3 days notice is changing to home learning next week due to staff shortages (people being sick, shielding, or having to self-isolate for 2 weeks). The school thinks it is likely the school will have to go to home learning again next term due to all the staff shortages.

If you are not a keyworker so that your child can request to stay in school, how can you go to work outside the home (no home working alternative) if you have no childcare?? What about children who don't have access to a computer etc?

I don't know if this is allowed, but I am going to link to a petition I have seen: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554316 - Admin, please remove this if the link is not allowed.

YABU - You should stop worrying
YANBU - You are right to worry about this.

It would be good if they could get it, I didn’t think so before but I do now. The problem is the vaccine is supposed to stop the most vulnerable overwhelming hospitals, and that is old people and those with certain health issues. For teachers to leapfrog those groups is not really ideal either

What a crap situation

Don’t vaccinate us (teachers!) but at least do mass testing on the children we teach.

My best friend and her husband tested positive on Friday. She finally managed to get her children tested (they’d heard it was awful so didn’t want to) and sure enough it was positive. She’s spent all after on the phone with track and trace whilst ill with fever, headache and a cough. Her hubby is coughing up a lung but the children are asymptomatic.

They both work from home. They got it off their children at school - you can try to tell me otherwise until you’re blue in the face but besides Tesco they haven’t been anywhere in a month. What’s worrisome is that her elderly parents have done the school run and checked in on the teenager self isolating home alone.

Test the children. Every Friday? And then they can be stopped coming into school on the Monday if positive.

Hi OP

We're just moving this thread over to our petitions topic.

If you want the schools open then teachers have to be a priority for the vaccine.

If you don't care if they close then teachers should not be a priority.

Simples.

sherrystrull
KarlKennedy didn't disagree with teachers having some priority in phase 2 either. I agreed with them that (paraphrasing) there are lots of other at risk roles that don't get mentioned. Roles that are vital to a functioning society. If anyone is suggesting teachers should take priority over them, then that's what I disagree with.

[quote Hercwasonaroll]@Voice0fReason

That is why phase 1 is prioritised by age and then care/NHS workers.

However teachers should be prioritised in phase 2.[/quote]
Phase 1 is prioritised by age.
Phase 2 is prioritised by age.
Phase 3 is prioritised by age.
Phase 4 is prioritised by age and extreme clinical vulnerability.
Phase 5 is prioritised by age.
Phase 6 is prioritised by age and clinical vulnerability.

All of these people are more likely to die than any teacher who does not fit into these groups.

Do you actually think that teachers should be prioritised ahead of all but the first group?
I don't.

Those are all phase 1, Voice. Once they’re done it’s phase 2.

Yes, agree with noble on that. When I've said phase 2 I've meant the under 50s

I thought they were all phase 1 too. Then phase 2 is under 50s?

Do you actually think that teachers should be prioritised ahead of all but the first group?
Teachers should be prioritised in the under 50s.

Love how so many on here are saying
‘but teachers won’t die from it!’
We KNOW that! Or hope that anyway.
You the same people that moan and kick off and call the schools all manner of names when we have to close the schools because there’s too many teachers off sick with it aren’t you?!
Or are we so immune, that you want us to carry on going to work with Covid just so you don’t have to get alternative childcare?!
The reason schools had to remain open for key worker kids during the previous lockdown was because even the stupid government realised how big an impact parents not being able to work would have on the economy!
Schools really do need to stay open and if you want that to happen, we need to be protected!
I would love one of you to spend just one day with me at school and see how much contact we have to have with students- even with all the risk assessments in the world, it’s impossible!

@Hercwasonaroll

I thought they were all phase 1 too. Then phase 2 is under 50s?

Do you actually think that teachers should be prioritised ahead of all but the first group?
Teachers should be prioritised in the under 50s.

And teachers (and support staff) over 50 should be prioritised in their age groups. These are the teachers most at risk of death, and of long-term complications.

@eastegg

sherrystrull KarlKennedy didn't disagree with teachers having some priority in phase 2 either. I agreed with them that (paraphrasing) there are lots of other at risk roles that don't get mentioned. Roles that are vital to a functioning society. If anyone is suggesting teachers should take priority over them, then that's what I disagree with.

No one is suggesting that.

And teachers (and support staff) over 50 should be prioritised in their age groups. These are the teachers most at risk of death, and of long-term complications.

People still don't seem to get it. This isn't why teachers need the vaccine. Not for their own protection but so they can carry on working.

They need it so they don't get ill, go off sick and the schools have to close. What's too hard to understand about that?

@GuyFawkesDay

Agree they need to be higher priority than Joe public.

Elderly and clinically very vulnerable
NHS staff, care workers
Retail, teachers
Other people

sherrystrull posters like this one are saying it.

@DecemberSun

And teachers (and support staff) over 50 should be prioritised in their age groups. These are the teachers most at risk of death, and of long-term complications.

People still don't seem to get it. This isn't why teachers need the vaccine. Not for their own protection but so they can carry on working.

They need it so they don't get ill, go off sick and the schools have to close. What's too hard to understand about that?

It's for both reasons. And they're connected.

I had covid. Almost certainly from my job teaching. Other staff also had covid at the same time. I am in my 20s. I recovered from my illness within 10 days with no repercussions. I could carry on teaching and my class had just 2 weeks out of school. There was a miniscule chance of my death or significant illness.

My colleague, in her 60s, had covid and was off for 2 months. Still not healthy. Her class have experienced significant disruption.

Yes, this is an anecdote, but it reflects the data.

Maybe I'm not as thick as you're trying tk make out.

I'm sure as more vaccines come on the market the priorities will change. I think that education has really suffered by you cant do a aloaf and fish feeding the thousands here. Right now there isnt enough to go around. If a healthy person's dies of cancer because there is no hospital bed, I would be more gutted for that person who does of a treatable cancer.

I have four kids. The eldest didnt sit his gcses this year. The youngest is 6 and cant read or write. My middle two are in private SEN schools and have largely been unaffected. Unlike their SEN state counterparts who has been been shafted more than other school age children.

The entire state education system is a shit show for so many underfunding reasons. Seeing a SEN school completely shut to protect its staff, ignore Gov advice and throw safeguarding out the window. Not sure i can get onboard with that thinking. But schools need to stay open.

Surely there is no magic wand here? Until more vaccines are produced we are all fucked

@DecemberSun

And teachers (and support staff) over 50 should be prioritised in their age groups. These are the teachers most at risk of death, and of long-term complications.

People still don't seem to get it. This isn't why teachers need the vaccine. Not for their own protection but so they can carry on working.

They need it so they don't get ill, go off sick and the schools have to close. What's too hard to understand about that?

Agree with this

Think the case to vaccinate teachers would be stronger if they had more research on if you can spread the virus after vaccination.

As it stands they seem to be saying vaccination won't necessarily stop you getting virus but well make sure if you do it will be mild. Also they aren't sure once you have jabs if you get virus you won't have enough to spread about.

If they said the vaccination stopped people spreading the virus then pretty sure teachers would be a greater priority.

We need vaccinating so we can work. Long term covid absence is really affecting our school now. The more teachers and school staff that can avoid getting it, the better.

@eastegg

That's not what the poster means. Let's look again...

*GuyFawkesDay
Agree they need to be higher priority than Joe public.

Elderly and clinically very vulnerable
NHS staff, care workers
Retail, teachers
Other people
*
What they are saying is...
1- elderly and clinically very vulnerable
2- nhs staff, care workers
3- retail and teacher ls
4 - other people

At no point did they say that teachers should go before vulnerable people.
Points are easily misinterpreted to show that somehow teachers are trying to elbow their way to the front when honestly no one is suggesting that.

I do think working clinically vulnerable teachers/school staff should be prioritised over non working elderly who can stay home.

How will a vaccine that seems to only lesson symptoms help keep schools open?

If vaccinated people can still get CV they can still get long CV. How does this help to keep. schools open?

There is still no evidence to show that the vaccines don't pass it on. So how does this help?

Plus under the first phase those who are CEV and over 16 would be getting the vaccination then. under number 4. If not under 4 under number 6.

@canigooutyet

Where do you get that info on the vaccine from? I've not read much about it yet.

Presumably some misinformation site. In the Pfizer trial, 170 people caught covid. 162 were in the placebo group and only 8 in the vaccine group. Suggesting that it only lessens symptoms would be incorrect.

OK, read a little bit into it.

The first statement, that Pfizer vaccine only lessens symptoms, is incorrect. Fewer symptomatic and asymptomatic cases in vaccinated people on trial.

The second statement is correct. Vaccinated people can get CV. However, the vaccine trials suggest that they are significantly less likely to do so (ie vaccine is effective but not 100%).

Thr third statement is correct. However, no evidence that the vaccine reduces spread is very different to "the vaccine does not reduce spread." Its just not what the trials investigated.

The third statement is probably the one that's actually relevant here. It's probably not much financially worthwhile giving 20 year old teachers (or prison officers, care workers or NHS staff, for that matter) the vaccine if it doesn't reduce spread. But let's cross fingers that the next phase of research shows that it does do this.

How would fewer people getting covid in the first place not count as ‘reducing spread’?