The general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), Kieran Christie has called on the Minister for Education Norma Foley to “have another look” at the position of unvaccinated pregnant teachers expected to return to school shortly.
“The Minister has a wider duty of care to these teachers,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
Pregnant teachers were “incredibly stressed out” about the return to school, especially given the high transmission rates of the Delta variant, adding they were losing sleep over the matter.
He said the ASTI is trying to engage with the Department of Education about a recent circular which stated even those with a significant ailment, or those in a high-risk category must attend the workplace.
“The Department of Education issued a circular some days ago, it deals with aspects in relation to people who have got significant ailments that puts them in what they call a very high-risk category and just to quote - it's an astonishing line in a circular, it says, and these people are pregnant as well, ‘high-risk - you must attend the workplace’.
“Pregnant women want low-risk or no risk in relation to their health and the health of their unborn children,” Mr Christie said.
He pointed out that pregnant teachers who were not yet 14 weeks pregnant could not be vaccinated.
It was not acceptable that pregnant teachers were expected to come into school, he added, as they would be terrified from when they arrived in the morning until they left in the evening.
Mr Christie said the Minister’s party colleague, Senator Lisa Chambers had called for “a re-look” at the situation.
“It’s not sustainable,” he said.
Get vaccinated
Meanwhile, public health expert Dr Gabriel Scally has said he understands the concerns expressed by teachers’ unions, saying if a pregnant teacher’s doctor expressed concern about her safety returning to school then the department needs to accept that.
It would be remiss of an employer to force a person into a work situation that was very dangerous, he told RTÉ radio’s Today show.
Dr Scally urged pregnant teachers to protect themselves and get vaccinated - by not taking the vaccine they were putting themselves and their baby at risk, he warned.
The vaccination programme in Ireland had been very well run, he said, adding the numbers of children aged 12-15 who had been registered was impressive and it was great to see that cohort being included.
“We need to get as many people vaccinated as possible,” Dr Scally said. It would be important to work with communities, but it would be better for parents to get the information from doctors and nurses, he added.
Dr Scally said he felt for those who – for whatever reason – could not be vaccinated. It was part of the collective responsibility to protect them, he said.
He also described calls for a delay to booster vaccines so doses could be sent to the developing world as “a false dichotomy”. There was a need for vaccines for all, and if there was a patent waiver then developing countries could manufacture their own vaccines, with Dr Scally calling on the EU and the UK to support international calls for such a waiver.
