Are nursery workers eligible for the Covid vaccine?

In the past 24 hours alone there has been a huge spike in Google searches as people seek answers – with many people trying terms like ‘early years vaccine’ and ‘nursery staff vaccine’ to find out more.

UPDATE - New info on nursery workers vaccine confusion

At the same time, some people describing themselves as nursery workers have posted on Twitter with differing accounts – some saying they were invited for vaccines but then turned away and others saying they and colleagues have now been successfully vaccinated.

We have already covered the strong feelings of pre-schools - which in many cases have remained open in lockdown - about a lack of PPE and safety measures, so it's easy to understand why workers are desperate to know one way or another whether or not they now qualify for help.

Try your own online search and you will probably see why there’s such a scramble for information – there’s not a lot of clarity out there at the moment.

So what is going on?

Article continues below.

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• 'How I felt in the 9 days after the jab - a vaccine diary'
• The Wiltshire areas with the fewest infections
• 6 Covid questions answered by Salisbury hospital boss
• 13 possible Pfizer jab side effects

‘Social care worker’ category confusion

One of the only decent sources of information at present online is from the Early Years Alliance, which posted an article on Friday (February 12) explaining that the industry has asked for official answers because of the conflicting reports. 

It includes the telling paragraph: “There has been no change to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)’s position on prioritisation for the vaccine and the roll-out is still progressing through its first phase priority groups – which does not include those working with ‘children under 16 who do not have underlying health conditions leading to greater risk of disease or mortality and children who have no underlying health conditions’.”

So, it appears those who thought the Government had changed the guidance were mistaken.

The article also explains where the rumours and confusion likely came from – information on the National Careers Service website.

The careers service had some information which suggested, in some cases, childminders and nursery workers could be classed as ‘social care’ staff.

It has since cleared up the speculation by saying its website is not intended to provide any information on vaccine categories.

What are the vaccine priority groups?

The JCVI’s list of people who should be given the vaccine first is unchanged.

It’s understood that nursery workers would only fall under the social care worker category, in the eyes of the JCVI list, if they work at a special needs school.

This week there were also calls for police officers to be bumped up the list too, given the dangerous situations and possible scenarios in which they might catch the virus they regularly face.

There has also been no change on police, as yet.

The priority list is still the following:

1. residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
2. all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
3. all those 75 years of age and over
4. all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals[footnote 1]
5. all those 65 years of age and over
6. all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
7. all those 60 years of age and over
8. all those 55 years of age and over
9. all those 50 years of age and over

What is happening in Salisbury and Wiltshire?

The Journal understands there have been some local cases of nursery staff booking appointments to get the coronavirus jab at City Hall in Salisbury.

While there haven’t been many cases like this, it shows how confusion is cutting through across the country.

Salisbury District Hospital posted on Twitter to clear up any confusion on Saturday.

It said: “Please only book at Salisbury City Hall vax centre if you are over 70, clinically extremely vulnerable or a health & social care worker with correct ID. We appreciate people are keen but if you are not in one of these groups and attend without valid ID you will not be vaccinated.”

Please only book at Salisbury City Hall vax centre if you are over 70, clinically extremely vulnerable or a health & social care worker with correct ID. We appreciate people are keen but if you are not in one of these groups and attend without valid ID you will not be vaccinated

— Salisbury Hospital (@SalisburyNHS) February 13, 2021

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