A TEACHING union has called for the Welsh Government to prioritise teachers for vaccines - but a leading health professional has warned doing so will slow down the rollout.
The National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) Cymru, has asked for teachers to be prioritised in the next phase of the Welsh Government's coronavirus vaccination programme.
Laura Doel, director of NAHT Cymru said: “Our education workforce is being relied upon to lead Wales out of the pandemic. They are being required to work with large groups of people who carry at least as much potential for infection as anyone else. Those groups often occupy confined and unventilated spaces for long periods of time with only rudimentary PPE.
“The fact that it may have added some complexity to roll out according to the JCVI is not a good enough reason not to prioritise the needs of committed professionals.
"A sick teacher is a teacher away from class which will mean further disruption to pupil’s education and could well mean that they may need to be educated from home again.
“We call upon the Welsh Government to take a different view, to live up to its promise to the people of Wales to make education a priority and do all it can to support a safe and sustainable return by choosing to prioritise school staff for vaccinations.
"We do not believe that teachers should be vaccinated at the detriment of the clinically vulnerable, but as front line staff they should be protected now that those in the greatest danger have already been vaccinated.”
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However, asked at today's Welsh Government coronavirus briefing whether the vaccine would be prioritised based on people's jobs, Dr Frank Atherton, chief medical officer for Wales said that was unlikely.
Dr Atherton said doing so would "complicate the rollout".
He said: "We asked JCVI to look really carefully at occupational prioritisation.
"Taking an age based approach covers a lot of these people anyway. For example 45 per cent of police staff are aged over 40.
"Occupational prioritisation would complicate the rollout and slow it down."
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