Teachers won't be able to jump the queue for a jab, says Prime Minister
Teachers will not be pushed to the top of the vaccine queue, the Prime Minister has said, as he accused the Labour leader of seeking to take the vaccine away from more vulnerable people.
Boris Johnson told the Commons that teachers will be vaccinated “as a matter of priority” if they fall into any of the nine groups that form phase one of the rollout, which includes everyone over the age of 50 as well as clinically vulnerable adults.
But, he said that the priority list was designed to make sure those most likely to die or suffer from coronavirus get the vaccine soonest, and called on Sir Keir Starmer to “explain which vaccines he would take from which vulnerable groups" to give to teachers.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced that summer schools, a “Covid premium”, and a £300 million tutoring programme will all form part of a package of “catch-up” measures aimed at making sure children do not fall behind due to school closures.
Watch: COVID-19 - Labour calls for all teachers and school staff to be vaccinated during February half-term
“We recognise these extended school closures have had a huge impact on children's learning, which will take more than a year to make up,” he told MPs.
"So we will work with parents, teachers and schools to develop a long-term plan to make sure pupils have the chance to make up their learning over the course of this parliament."
The Labour leader called for teachers and key workers to be vaccinated once the four top priority groups defined by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) had received the jab.
He argued that teachers and other school staff should be vaccinated during the February half-term holiday, rather than waiting for the remaining five groups within the phase one roll-out to be innoculated.
Ministers have set a target for the first four groups (which includes care home residents and carers, frontline health and social care workers, everyone over the age of 70, and the clinically extremely vulnerable) to be vaccinated by the middle of February.
Sir Keir asked: "Does he agree with me that once the first four categories of the most vulnerable have been vaccinated by mid-February, he should bring forward the vaccination of key workers and use the window of the February half-term to vaccinate all teachers and all school staff?"
Mr Johnson said that any teachers who are aged under 50 will need to wait until the second phase of the vaccine rollout, which is due to take place after Spring.
Watch: What UK government COVID-19 support is available?
