Vaccinate the teachers

GranAT. I totally agree with you about serving police officers, there is no closer contact than searching or wrestling suspects on the ground or beening spat and coughed on with only disposal masks to wear. I work in an Emergency Department and most days there are more police officers than doctors.
With a limited amount of vaccine difficulties arise when deciding who the priority should be given to with regards to front line workers including teaches and shop workers

The point about vaccinating the key workers is not to prevent transmission, because we don’t yet know whether vaccination stops transmission, but to keep key institutions operating as normally as possible. I was in hospital with Covid and 40% of staff were off with Covid or self isolating. It’s really not rocket science that the NHS and other institutions will be better protected if nearly half its staff aren’t absent with Covid.

maddyone

Yes blueflinders that’s my point. All key workers should have been vaccinated first. They cannot hide away, they are out there in the hospitals and surgeries, in the schools, in the shops, working as carers, in the care homes, on the streets, delivering our post and parcels. These key workers should have been the first vaccinated.

Yes, maddyone in an ideal world I agree..... but key workers are not in the majority of those who are dying in hospital.

Indeed Madbird if police officers are off with Covid because they weren’t vaccinated, then the police have to operate with a severely restricted force. As Ellen says, oldies can carry on isolating at home for a couple of months longer. It won’t harm them to isolate for a bit longer.

Probably not a popular opinion but I really do not understand why I know of NHS staff ( not frontline ) who are " fully vaccinated" ( presumably that means both jabs ) and sat working from home doing zoom physiotherapy etc. Teachers, the police, etc are much more front line and without the PPE !
As for " fully vaccinated" why should these NHS staff, who are not front line get 2 jabs instead of just 1? If it is safe for people in their 90s to only have 1 Pfizer jab with a 12 week gap before the 2nd ( this jab had been designed with just a 3 week gap) then why is it not safe for a physio behind a computer screen to wait the 12 weeks as well ?
Just rather puzzled and infuriated !
Yes, I have a 91 yr old mum, living on her own, who has not been out since the beginning of March 2020. She became rather sad when she received her letter cancelling her second dose.
And also, I am a 63 year old supply teacher who has not taught for 10 months because I don't feel it is safe enough for me, however, that was my choice to turn down something that I loved doing and was providing an income.

It may sound heartless and it’s not meant to, but is it not more important to protect younger people who are key workers from dying Sparklefizz?

A couple of days ago I saw on the national news that a young police officer of 37 years of age had contracted Covid through his work and died. He had no other co morbidities. Why is it unreasonable to protect people such as him and his now bereaved wife and children from being so ill and dying, over people who are in their 90s and who can very reasonably remain in their homes safely for a little while longer. My own mother is 93 and is getting her vaccine in the next two weeks. She never goes out any longer. I would rather my 49 year old teacher niece were able to get the vaccine quite frankly.

Whether or not teachers should be vaccinated, it is important to remember that schools are not closed.
Virtually all state schools are open , taking in the children of essential workers and those children considered vulnerable for a variety of reasons

Many schoold have attendance of 50 %
Teachers are not sitting at home making the most of 'not working '
They are in fact working their socks off, teaching in school AND preparing and teaching adapted work live on line.
The only ones at home not actively working are those who havee contracted Covid

Dental nurses in Scotland are having vaccinations now but not teachers as yet. My daughter is in admin in a primary school but there is no sign of vaccination for her. She has to be in school all hours that the school is open.

maddyone

It may sound heartless and it’s not meant to, but is it not more important to protect younger people who are key workers from dying Sparklefizz?

A couple of days ago I saw on the national news that a young police officer of 37 years of age had contracted Covid through his work and died. He had no other co morbidities. Why is it unreasonable to protect people such as him and his now bereaved wife and children from being so ill and dying, over people who are in their 90s and who can very reasonably remain in their homes safely for a little while longer. My own mother is 93 and is getting her vaccine in the next two weeks. She never goes out any longer. I would rather my 49 year old teacher niece were able to get the vaccine quite frankly.

It would be incredibly expensive to save a handful of young keyworker lives. Moreover, it wouldn't be efficient in taking pressure off the NHS, unless you just want to leave older and more vulnerable people at home to die. That's not how public health works.

nipsmum

Dental nurses in Scotland are having vaccinations now but not teachers as yet. My daughter is in admin in a primary school but there is no sign of vaccination for her. She has to be in school all hours that the school is open.

If she's admin and has little direct contact with children, she doesn't have a particularly high risk.

GranAT

I sympathise with all the teachers out there. But Police Officers are not being offered the vaccine in Phase 1. They come into contact with loads of people on a daily basis. Its not always possible to stay at a safe distance and although they do wear face coverings the people they are dealing with do not. They should definitely come before teachers.

It’s a hard decision, many people talk about police supermarket workers delivery drivers etc but my point is that teachers are in a not very large room with 30 or so pupils for at least an hour at a time and then another group etc etcwhereas supermarket workers etc (not necessarily police) have contact but it’s for a shorter amount of time.

Ginpin

Probably not a popular opinion but I really do not understand why I know of NHS staff ( not frontline ) who are " fully vaccinated" ( presumably that means both jabs ) and sat working from home doing zoom physiotherapy etc. Teachers, the police, etc are much more front line and without the PPE !
As for " fully vaccinated" why should these NHS staff, who are not front line get 2 jabs instead of just 1? If it is safe for people in their 90s to only have 1 Pfizer jab with a 12 week gap before the 2nd ( this jab had been designed with just a 3 week gap) then why is it not safe for a physio behind a computer screen to wait the 12 weeks as well ?
Just rather puzzled and infuriated !
Yes, I have a 91 yr old mum, living on her own, who has not been out since the beginning of March 2020. She became rather sad when she received her letter cancelling her second dose.
And also, I am a 63 year old supply teacher who has not taught for 10 months because I don't feel it is safe enough for me, however, that was my choice to turn down something that I loved doing and was providing an income.

I agree with you that NHS workers not on the front line should not have been prioritised. I've read of a few cases, but I don't know how anecdotal they are.

Lucca

GranAT

I sympathise with all the teachers out there. But Police Officers are not being offered the vaccine in Phase 1. They come into contact with loads of people on a daily basis. Its not always possible to stay at a safe distance and although they do wear face coverings the people they are dealing with do not. They should definitely come before teachers.

It’s a hard decision, many people talk about police supermarket workers delivery drivers etc but my point is that teachers are in a not very large room with 30 or so pupils for at least an hour at a time and then another group etc etcwhereas supermarket workers etc (not necessarily police) have contact but it’s for a shorter amount of time.

Teachers aren't in a room with 30 children at the moment. The safest option is for most pupils to stay at home.

lincolnimp

Whether or not teachers should be vaccinated, it is important to remember that schools are not closed.
Virtually all state schools are open , taking in the children of essential workers and those children considered vulnerable for a variety of reasons

Many schoold have attendance of 50 %
Teachers are not sitting at home making the most of 'not working '
They are in fact working their socks off, teaching in school AND preparing and teaching adapted work live on line.
The only ones at home not actively working are those who havee contracted Covid

I don’t think anyone disputes that any longer (well I certainly hope not!). All my past colleagues are finding it much harder work. However the fact is that many children cannot access this online learning

No, I don’t want older people left at home to die growstuff. I’m suggesting they carry on shielding, as they have been doing for months. I’ve even seen a post of yours on another thread where you actually suggested the same thing. You said you’d already barely been out since last March and it wouldn’t hurt you to continue for a couple more months.

growstuff

Lucca

GranAT

I sympathise with all the teachers out there. But Police Officers are not being offered the vaccine in Phase 1. They come into contact with loads of people on a daily basis. Its not always possible to stay at a safe distance and although they do wear face coverings the people they are dealing with do not. They should definitely come before teachers.

It’s a hard decision, many people talk about police supermarket workers delivery drivers etc but my point is that teachers are in a not very large room with 30 or so pupils for at least an hour at a time and then another group etc etcwhereas supermarket workers etc (not necessarily police) have contact but it’s for a shorter amount of time.

Teachers aren't in a room with 30 children at the moment. The safest option is for most pupils to stay at home.

I know that . I meant in the normal way of things !

I can completely understand why dental nurses are a priority, they are at as high a risk as staff on the front line in the NHS because their job involves spending their time sucking stuff out of people’s mouths. There’s not much more risky than that.

Reluctantly I agree with growstuff on keeping children at home now. I have been the fiercest advocate for children being in school, but the situation at the moment tells us children need to be at home. As an ex teacher my heart breaks for the many children stuck in unsatisfactory homes, without computers or parents who can help, but it just has to be at the moment.

Lucca
I agree that teachers are working harder than ever. And it is true that many children cannot access this online work.

ALANaV

The trouble is all groups consider themselves a priority which puts great strain on the NHS to provide vaccines for all....health workers, delivery drivers, teachers,postmen, police, children, the elderly, the disabled ...I could go on HOW do you decide WHO should have the vaccination first ? the young may give the disease to the elderly ....vice versa, people mixing may give it to hundreds of others .......asymptomatic people will definitely be spreaders ...but then, they have no idea they have the disease ....and so it goes on, round and round in circles.............government arguing who should be given priority ...then the chosen group gets negative comments because another group thinks it should have been first ..............and suddenly no one is dying of influenza any longer ............pneumonia .............is this massaging the figures and hiding the deaths from other perhaps untreated illnesses by saying they are COVID ...personally I think yes, they ARE covid RELATED as because nothing else is being treated, other illnesses are being said to be as they ARE ....related because there is no treatment or no effective treatment, for other illnesses as COVID takes priority., and it looks better for the government to keep everyone under control by emotional blackmail. I wish it on no one .......but it is a fact of life and sometime we MUST be released from these draconian measures or there will be no economy, no future for the children, more homeless and the complete destruction of democracy .........

One of the best posts I have read on here for some time.

They are in fact working their socks off, teaching in school AND preparing and teaching adapted work live on line.
They don't need to be working harder than ever though. They do, however, need to embrace things in a different way. Admittedly it takes a bit of ingenuity and money, but it wouldn't be that difficult, in terms of technology, to set a camera up in the classroom and have the kids at home interacting with the kids at school on a whiteboard. The teacher does the one lesson for all.
This should have been thought about by the tech geeks last September.

Ellianne

^They are in fact working their socks off, teaching in school AND preparing and teaching adapted work live on line.^
They don't need to be working harder than ever though. They do, however, need to embrace things in a different way. Admittedly it takes a bit of ingenuity and money, but it wouldn't be that difficult, in terms of technology, to set a camera up in the classroom and have the kids at home interacting with the kids at school on a whiteboard. The teacher does the one lesson for all.
This should have been thought about by the tech geeks last September.

You make it sound so easy. I know I’d have struggled.

If emergency service personnel are not considered to be high up the risk list I cannot see what makes teachers more at risk. Emergency personnel are dealing with a lot of adults, some partying, drunk violent, may have to enter premises of goodness knows what and they are not prioritised. That said, I would love to see the schools back for the children's sake.

You make it sound so easy. I know I’d have struggled.
Me too initially, but pretty simple to deliver the lesson as usual, just move the furniture to capture those in the classroom by a camera positioned on a tripod. No need to be a Spielberg!

I feel so sad to read "oldies can just shield for another couple of months". Is that what folk think my quality of life is worth? The government plan to vaccinate first those that are most likely to die if they catch Covid is absolutely sensible. The graphs showing deaths by age group tell it all. I'm too appalled by this thread to write more.

As someone pointed out up thread , a lot of people who are classed as key workers are working from home . We were told by the gov that being in a room for long stretches of time with an infected person was the most common way to catch the virus. Therefore teachers must be particularly vulnerable , especially as they are teaching the children of key workers who are actually on the front line.Having said this I agree that police officers should definitely be prioritised.