Almost 10,000 teachers in COVID-19 hotspots to access priority jab - from the SMH

Teachers, school staff and aged care workers in the Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool local government areas will have access to priority vaccinations from Friday.

Almost 10,000 teachers from 236 schools across those regions can access a new vaccine hub opening at Fairfield Showground which will target both priority groups. Almost 3000 non-teaching school staff from across the hotspots will also be eligible.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday said the groups would move to the front of the vaccine queue, as NSW recorded 112 new cases mainly in Sydney’s south-west and south-east.

Ms Berejiklian also announced that the AstraZeneca vaccine will now be available for people aged over 40 at NSW Health vaccination clinics and pharmacies.

“Our priority is always about what life looks like once we get out of the lockdown and getting out of the lockdown as quickly as we can, and providing less stress for our citizens as quickly as we can,” she said.

About 9650 teachers who work in the affected local government areas can receive a priority jab, with 5785 in public schools, around 2000 in Catholic schools and less than 2000 in private schools.

Approximately 2960 non-teaching staff across the three school sectors will also be eligible.

Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney said it was pleasing to see the vaccination plan, “which mitigates risk for the entire school community.”

“Vaccination hubs will act as a key part of this strategy, serving the entire NSW community, and a priority booking system is a sensible way to ensure teachers are at the front of the queue,” he said.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell, who has advocated for teachers to be bumped to the top of the vaccine queue, welcomed the move and encouraged teachers to take advantage.

She said the priority access covered teachers, administration staff and support officers working for government and non-government schools in the designated Fairfield, Canterbury Bankstown and Liverpool local government areas.

They will be given specific links to register for the vaccine and will need to provide proof of employment when they arrive for their vaccination. The department began communicating with staff on Monday.

NSW Teachers Federation Angelo Gavrielatos said it was “an important breakthrough”. “We have advocated since August last year for teachers to be prioritised. This can only be the start of what must be a prioritisation of all teachers,” he said.

The state’s desire to prioritise teachers has not been reflected at a national level: no other state education minister spoke in favour of the proposal at a roundtable earlier this month, while a national cabinet meeting in early June ruled no more workers would be added to the priority list.

Monday’s announcement from the NSW government will ensure about 10.7 per cent of the state’s teaching workforce has priority access. School staff over 40 are already eligible, but many are on long waitlists for appointments.

Ms Berejiklian said the government was continuing to work closely with schools and would give parents as much certainty as possible about the duration of remote learning, which commences with the return of school on Tuesday.

“But we also [want] to make sure that all those arrangements are made so that no child is disadvantaged, no matter what the health advice says,” she said.

An indefinite extension to the lockdown was all but certain, Ms Berejiklian said.

“It’s not likely, in fact it’s almost impossible for us to get out of lockdown on Friday, but we will be able to provide you information out as soon as that comes to hand.”

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the length of the lockdown would depend on the community’s cooperation in staying home and getting tested, while urging all eligible people to get vaccinated.

Three new mass vaccination centres and a large clinic will open in coming weeks with a major hub in Belmont in Lake Macquarie, and a clinic in the Sydney CBD set to open as soon as next Monday.

A mass centre in Macquarie Fields in Sydney’s south-west will open at the end of the month and another in Wollongong in August.

The new centres will give NSW the capacity to vaccinate up to 200,000 people every week, if they receive sufficient supply.