Labour’s call to vaccinate teachers ‘would risk lives’
LABOUR has been accused of risking the lives of the most vulnerable after demanding that teachers jump the vaccine queue.
The party wants hundreds of thousands of jabs to be diverted away from the over-65s, against the advice of experts.
But International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said it would mean older people would be more likely to die.
She said: “The issue is that for every person you vaccinate who isn’t in the most vulnerable group, that’s somebody in the most vulnerable group who isn’t getting their vaccine and who is more likely to die in the next few weeks and months.
“I just don’t think that’s right.
That’s the decision made by the independent committee, that we are going to vaccinate first the over-70s and those in the most vulnerable group, and then the over-50s.”
Labour is calling for teachers to receive the jab after all over-70s, frontline NHS staff and the most clinically vulnerable have been inoculated. This is expected by the middle of next month.
But it would mean school staff are given shots before the next priority groups on the list, which start with the over-65s.
Experts at the Office for National Statistics have said data does not show that teachers are at greater risk than the general population of dying from the virus.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the organisation behind the priority list, has advised against altering the first phase to include occupation groups.
Shadow cabinet office minister Rachel Reeves said it would take just a couple of days to vaccinate teaching staff.
She said: “What Labour is saying is can the JCVI look at how we can ensure that those people who are most exposed to the virus can get access to it at a bit of an earlier stage.”