Labour MP calls for vaccination of teachers

PLYMOUTH’S teachers, teaching assistants and school staff should get the Covid-19 vaccine over the February half-term, according to Labour MP Luke Pollard.

The Devonport MP has made the call, in line with his party’s policy, despite Deputy Chief Medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam insisting teachers were “not markedly” more likely to contract the illness.

Mr Pollard has called on the Government to use the natural break of the February half-term to vaccinate all the city’s school staff, allowing three weeks to build immunity before reopening schools on March 8. Labour is calling for key workers in critical professions to be added to the first phase of the vaccination programme, alongside JCVI categories five to nine.

The call comes after party leader Sir Keir Starmer pressed the Prime Minister to vaccinate teachers and support staff in February half-term as part of a national effort to get children back in the classroom.

The half-term break follows the Government’s target date for the top four priority groups to be vaccinated. Labour says that official statistics show that those who work in settings with regular exposure to Covid-19 and in close proximity to others have higher Covid19 death rates, when compared to the rest of the population.

Professor Van Tam and other scientific advisers are urging ministers to stick to the current vaccine roll-out plan, fearing that diverting the jabs away from the most vulnerable people, including older age groups and those with underlying health conditions, will add to the death rate.

Mr Pollard said: “I want to see our city’s schools safely reopen as soon as possible.”