Call for nursery staff to get jab priority
Calls have been made for nursery staff and childminders to be given higher priority for the Covid-19 vaccination amid confusion in the sector.
Some childcare workers have been able to get their jabs in the county already due to being classed as social care priority group four, though many have had difficulty getting appointments.
Industry bodies have called for workers to be escalated higher in the order, while staff simply want more clarity.
Jane Smalley, from Shrewsbury Prepatoria, said she and staff had booked in for their vaccines but then gave up their appointments after a “furore” on social media over whether more vulnerable people or others within the social care sector should receive their jabs first.
“Last week one of my team heard that some friends in Telford (also working in the industry) had been vaccinated. A group of 15 staff had been vaccinated so I rang the 119 number.
"I told them I’m a nursery manager and I’m in contact with the children and he said yes, I can have the vaccination, and he booked me in.
"Other members of staff booked in as well, but there was a bit of a furore on Facebook.
“We decided to give up our appointments because we felt it was the right thing to do, although it is a shame.
"We’ve been working right the way through in close contact with the children.”
Liz Bayram, chief executive at the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years, said: “We have been calling for childminders and nursery staff to be prioritised for vaccination after the most vulnerable, given how impossible it for them to socially distance from young children.
"We are aware that in some local authorities, practitioners have already been offered vaccinations as part of priority group 4 social care and have been calling on government in England for clarification on this issue for some time now.
“Our greatest concern is that this lack of clarity is already leading to a postcode lottery of vaccination for our sector.
"A rapid policy decision is now needed on this matter. Our members are clear that, whilst desperate to receive the vaccination, they do not want to do so at the expense of those members of the community who are classified as more vulnerable to Covid-19.”
Shropshire CCG has been approached for a comment.
