Guernsey teachers "must be given priority for Covid-19 vaccine"

Thursday 18 February 2021

Teachers deserve the same levels of protection from Covid-19 as other prioritised front-line staff, according to a teaching union, which has said the prevalence of cases linked to schools emphasises the need for staff to be vaccinated.

The NASUWT teachers’ union is today calling for all education staff across Guernsey to be prioritised for the corona virus vaccine.

The NASUWT has presented evidence in England showing that staff working in secondary and primary schools are more likely to be infected than the wider community, with rates of virus prevalence among school staff between 3-4 times higher than the prevalence rate for the average adult.

NASUWT General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach noted that many cases in Guernsey's recent outbreak were linked to school sites and the Festival of Dance. 

Pictured: School staff are subject to targeted testing at the East Arm testing facility to ensure they are not carrying the virus before going into education sites. 

“It is right that health and social care staff are prioritised, but the NASUWT also believes that teachers must also be identified as a priority group for the vaccine," he said. 

“With provision for younger age children and for children with special and additional learning needs, it is clear that there are additional risks present which are comparable to those that exist in the provision of health and social care.

“The recent outbreak in Guernsey affected many schools and large numbers of school staff. The impact on this generation of children and young people should not be underestimated and everything that can be done should be done to ensure the safe and sustainable resumption of school and college-based education for all pupils as quickly as possible.”

Civil Contingencies Authority President Peter Ferbrache reiterated earlier this week that there is a finite number of vaccines available at the current time. 

“We receive messages daily from people asking that we prioritise them, others, or groups of people they know," he commented. “Of course, all of this is reasonable. People want to make representations, as they should be allowed to. If we had vaccines, we'd vaccinate them all tomorrow."

Pictured: The priority cohorts as set out by the States of Guernsey before the rest of the population start to be vaccinated from May onwards. 

Gary Upton, NASUWT National Executive Member for Guernsey, said vaccinating teachers would help to provide sustainable solutions and help avoid future disruption to children's education. 

“Whilst teachers are doing everything that is being asked of them, they also deserve the same levels of protection in the face of this highly deadly and highly contagious virus.

“Reducing further disruption to schools means not only that lessons need to be learned, but also that credible and sustainable solutions are implemented.

“This means that tougher control measures will be needed to ensure workplace safety, together with priority roll out of the Coronavirus vaccines to all frontline education staff in order to minimise further disruption to children’s education.”

States schools are currently delivering a distance learning programme that has been acclaimed by NASUWT in recent weeks.