The petition of residents of the constituency of Putney,
Declares that those working in schools are extremely vulnerable to the spread of coronavirus; further that a major factor in the need to close schools has been the failure to put in place measures to reduce the risks which school staff are subjected to; further that it is crucial that teachers are prioritised for vaccines to ensure that schools can stay open rather than close because of staff shortages, and so that teachers and school staff are safer doing their jobs.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to urgently prioritise vaccinating teachers and school staff.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Fleur Anderson, Official Report, 25 March 2021; Vol. 691, c. 1172.]
[P002655]
Observations from the Minister for Covid Vaccine Deployment (Nadhim Zahawi):
The Government understand the importance of the work carried out by school staff in this difficult time to support children and young people through their education.
The Government and the NHS are working hard to ensure everyone who has been prioritised in phase one and two of the roll-out will have access to a vaccine by the end of July. Over 34 million people across the UK have now received their first dose of a covid-19 vaccine and over 15 million people have received their second dose. There are now over 2700 sites across the UK already offering vaccines to those at risk, by age and clinical priority. The network will continue to expand and evolve as we progress the deployment in the months ahead.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the independent body made up of scientific and clinical experts who advise Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level.
The Government asked the JCVI for advice on covid-19 vaccine prioritisation and the JCVI advice was that the first priorities for any covid-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of covid-19 mortality and the protection of health and social care staff and systems.
Based upon this, the JVCI advised that the only workforce prioritisation should be given to frontline health and social care workers who are at high risk of acquiring infection, and at risk of transmitting that infection to multiple patients particularly vulnerable to covid-19 and other staff in a healthcare environment.
Following infection, almost all children will have asymptomatic infection or mild disease and therefore are not considered to be particularly vulnerable to severe outcomes of covid-19. Preliminary evidence suggested that not only do children have a lower susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection, but they are also unlikely to be key drivers of transmission at a population level.
In line with the JCVI’s advice, school staff will remain to be prioritised for vaccination according to their age and clinical risk along with the rest of the population.
Following the JCVI advice on prioritisation has already helped save thousands of lives and will help to save thousands more. We want to protect those most at risk and reduce pressure on the NHS. Age and underlying health conditions are currently deemed the biggest factors determining mortality from covid-19.
So far, everybody in cohorts 1 to 9—those aged 50 and over, the clinically extremely vulnerable, persons with underlying health conditions and health and social care workers— have been offered a vaccine, meeting the Government’s 15 April target ahead of time. This means that all school staff most at risk of serious outcomes from covid-19, will have now been invited for a first dose of a covid-19 vaccine.
The JCVI advises that the offer of vaccination during phase two is age-based starting with the oldest adults first and proceeding in the following order:
all those aged 40 to 49 years
all those aged 30 to 39 years
all those aged 18 to 29 years
Full JVCI advice on phase two of vaccination can be found at the following link: JCVI final statement on phase two of the covid-19 vaccination programme: 13 April 2021 - GOV.UK at:
www.gov.uk
All those over 40 can now book their vaccination through the NHS booking service. The Government aim to offer everyone aged 18 and over their first dose by 31 July.
We thank school staff for all the incredible work they have been undertaking throughout the pandemic, and we are working hard to ensure everyone who is eligible to receive a vaccine will have access as soon as possible.