Cairns parents anxious over back-to-school plans around Covid

Anxious parents have raised concerns over students and teachers’ mask requirements, routine Covid tests and whether the jab will be offered in a school setting when the education year begins.

PRIMARY students in the Far North won’t be offered school-based jabs like their older counterparts were, according to the Pharmacy Guild Queensland.

Anxious parents of younger children have raised concerns around whether students and teachers will need to wear masks, have routine Covid tests and whether the jab will be offered in a school setting when the education year begins on February 7.

Pharmacy Guild Queensland president Trent Twomey said the Guild would not be running vaccination clinics for primary schools, but Pfizer vaccines for 5-11 year olds, who are now eligible for the jab, would be offered through a number of pharmacies across the region.

“Children need two doses to be fully immunised, eight weeks apart, but children will still have a good level of immunity seven days after first dose,” Mr Twomey said.

Qualified Covid-19 vaccinator and pharmacist Georgina Twomey with her son Archer Twomey, 8, daughter Scarlett Twomey, 10 and Trent Twomey at their Alive pharmacy in Westcourt. Picture: Brendan Radke

“Somewhere between a quarter and a third of children have already received at least one dose.

“Uptake is not limited by motivation but by availability of stock.”

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has said two million doses of Pfizer for children were being distributed and there was sufficient supply of the 5-11 year doses to offer all children a first dose by the end of January.

But Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Dr Karen Price said the rollout had been plagued with problems.

She said practices were receiving insufficient stock or expired vaccine doses, having orders cancelled at the last minute or doses not arriving without any explanation.

“Urgent improvements to the children’s vaccine rollout must happen now so that our kids can receive at least one vaccine dose before returning to the classroom,” she said.

Professor Twomey acknowledged there was uncertainty among parents.

“Ask your pharmacist, they are the medication experts to help you make a decision, don’t get your information off social media,” Professor Twomey said.

Health experts have said there should be a free supply of RAT tests for students and staff and that students and teachers should wear masks.

State Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has signalled Queensland would not require weekly testing of students and teachers.

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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has insisted details of the state’s full back to school plan won’t be revealed until education Minister Grace Grace, who is currently recovering from Covid, is back on deck.

In NSW, all teachers and students will be taking rapid antigen tests twice weekly and it is strongly recommended in Victoria.

National cabinet has agreed schools will “go back and stay back” with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying disruption from schools opening and closing repeatedly would be avoided.

Two jabs is mandatory for anyone entering a school or early childhood education and care setting, including contractors and volunteers.

Students of all ages are able to attend school regardless of their vaccination status.

Evelina Siegrist, who had her daughter Stella, 11, vaccinated on Wednesday, said it was a straightforward decision.

“We have all been vaccinated, we are planning to go overseas to see my parents in April, so there was no question she would have it as soon as it was going to become available,” she said.

“I would have not hesitated sending to school if she didn’t get vaccinated, but we did, since it is available. I have no concerns at all, she seems fine.”

Meanwhile, at Yarrabah, a Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service spokesman confirmed that 81.9 per cent of homes in the town had a resident impacted by the pandemic.

“We have a total of 333 active cases, with 28 additional cases added in the past 24 hours,” he said.

Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service Chief Executive, Beverley Hamerton said as of Tuesday evening, there were 389 active Covid cases.

A pop up clinic for children is operating at the Pier for the next three days.

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Originally published as Cairns parents anxious over back-to-school plans around Covid