Sammy Wilson MP says education staff ‘a vaccination priority’

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson has called for teachers and education staff to be made a Covid-19 vaccination priority.
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The DUP representative says the decision to close schools in Northern Ireland and the consequences of such an action will be profound and have a lasting effect on children and their development.

Teachers want to be in their classrooms but are understandably concerned for their own health, especially given the latest pronouncements from government and the teaching unions,” said Mr Wilson.

“The impact will be felt most severely by disadvantaged pupils in our society who may not have access to the laptops or iPads which are needed to make remote learning viable.

Vaccination programme a game changer, says Department of Health. Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press EyeVaccination programme a game changer, says Department of Health. Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye
Vaccination programme a game changer, says Department of Health. Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye

“It is clear that a prolonged closure of schools is not sustainable and measures must be taken to ensure that our teaching and education staff are vaccinated as a priority.

“I am pleased that the Education Minister has proposed that vaccinations for teaching staff be prioritised and I hope that the Executive will agree to such a proposal as soon as possible.”

Earlier this week Education Minister Peter Weir said pre-school education settings, primary and post primary schools will be required to provide remote learning to pupils until the half term break in mid-February.

Special schools will remain open. The Executive will be keeping the position under review.

Vulnerable children and children of key workers will have access to schools for supervised learning.

The minister said: “Any disruption to schooling for a significant period of time will have a devastating impact on children’s educational opportunities and future prospects, as well as being damaging to their mental health and well-being.

“It should, therefore, be only contemplated as a last resort in extreme public health circumstances such as we are currently facing, and should be maintained for a period no longer than is necessary.”

This week saw a new phase in Northern Ireland’s Covid-19 vaccination programme with GPs starting to administer the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to patients aged 80 and over. The province received a first consignment of around 50,000 doses of the vaccine and more practices will begin delivering it next week.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: “The start of the primary care vaccination programme this week is a real game-changer in efforts to protect our most vulnerable citizens and reduce the terrible impact that Covid-19 is having on our health service.

“Towards the end of January we will have vaccinated all of the over 80s in Northern Ireland who wish to avail of the vaccine and then we’ll progressively roll it out to the over 75s, the over 70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable. Our aim is to get the vaccine into the arms of our most vulnerable as quickly as we possibly can.

“The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended a strategy of prioritising first doses of vaccines to as many people as possible. We know that after the first dose of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine within two to three weeks there is a very high level of immunity and after 21 days, irrespective of which vaccine you have, that immunity does not drop off.”

Click here to read: Carrickfergus Castle Practice to begin Covid-19 jabs for target group

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