Victorian call for priority access to Covid-19 vaccine

Teachers are calling for priority access to Covid-19 vaccinations amid ongoing outbreaks in Victorian schools and remote learning disruptions.

Primary school teacher Tom Davis is pushing for all education staff to be prioritised in vaccination rollout for Covid-19. Picture: Tony Gough

Teachers are calling on the federal government to urgently fast-track Covid-19 vaccinations for educators amid ongoing outbreaks in Victorian schools.

It comes after 10 schools, including the prestigious Trinity Grammar in Kew, have been exposed to several positive Covid-19 cases in the past week.

More than 200,000 Victorian students lost up to 24 weeks of face-to-face learning in classrooms due to lockdowns since 2020.

Tom Davis, 29, a primary school teacher in Melbourne’s north, said it was a “priority” for all education staff to be vaccinated and urged the federal government to fast-track jabs.

“I consulted with my GP about AstraZeneca and he recommended that I don’t get it due to my age and the risks involved within my age group,” Mr Davis said.

“I wrote a letter to Greg Hunt and all the relevant ministers to stress the importance of why teachers should be vaccinated, it would stop schools from potentially closing, make them safe and allow students to be at school.”

Euan Morton, who teaches at an inner-city school in Melbourne, also said teachers should be vaccinated as quickly as possible.

“I work at a school with 1000 people coming in and out and we share a VCE program with another school, we should be in line behind doctors, nurses and aged care,” Mr Morton said.

44 per cent of teachers in Victoria are aged under 40, according to the VIT’s latest annual report.

Last week, unions also reacted angrily after Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge said teachers should not be prioritised in the vaccination rollout.

“I think that medical advice has been that there’s higher risk categories of people, and that therefore they’re being prioritised,” he said.

Mr Tudge nonetheless encouraged teachers to get vaccinated if they fit into eligible categories.

Australian Education Union Victorian Branch president Meredith Peace said the federal government’s vaccination rollout has been nothing short of a “fiasco”.

“We’re a week into term three and three days into Victoria’s fifth lockdown and education workers have still not been prioritised for Covid-19 vaccination,” she said.

“The Morrison Government’s incompetence leaves Australia as one of the few nations in the world who have not delivered prioritised vaccination for school staff.”

In Monday’s press conference, Premier Daniel Andrews said although several schools were at the centre of Victoria’s current outbreak, teachers would not be prioritised in vaccine queues. “Until we have literally pallets of this stuff arriving as we were promised, then the current priorities will remain in place,” he said.

Parents Victoria executive officer Gail McHardy said: “Due to the Delta variant being such a worry to all … it would increase families’, students’ and teacher confidence if teachers were eligible to be vaccinated now,” she said.

Victorian opposition education spokesman David Hodgett said: “We need to prioritise teacher vaccination to ensure our kids are disrupted as minimally as possible heading into terms 3 and 4.”

A federal Health Department spokeswoman said: “Many teachers or childcare workers may now be eligible for Covid-19 vaccination on the basis of their age, or other grounds”.

A state government spokeswoman said the government wanted to see as many Victorians vaccinated as possible but this was entirely based on supply.

“We urgently need the Commonwealth to commit to significantly more vaccine supply for our state-run centres alongside extra doses for GPs so we can vaccinate more Victorians,” she said.