BCC Coronavirus Update: COVID-19 Vaccination Priority Clarification
The below update comes from Lindsey Trivett, Head of Early Years, Childcare and Children’s Centres at Birmingham City Council.
COVID-19 Vaccination Priority
It has been brought to our attention that there has been confusion over whether or not childminders and other early years workers might qualify for priority vaccines due to them apparently being classed as working in the ‘social care’ sector.
This has been caused by the National Careers Service updating their list of careers that are classed as being part of the Social Care sector. This confusion has been explained in a news article on the Childcare.co.uk website which you can see here.
I have also spoken to the Birmingham and Solihull NHS Trust who have confirmed the following:-
“The NHS programme for vaccinations is following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) guidance which only includes front line health and social care workers, and doesn’t at this time include teachers, early years workers or childminders.
Unfortunately where teachers/early years workers/childminders have tried to use the booking link – they have been turned away at the vaccination centre.”
The current position in Birmingham is as follows:-
The priority for vaccines is set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the Council cannot influence this at national level.
The Council is able to put forward priority groups of staff within the Social Care field, and we are aware that a very small number of local authorities have included their early years workforce within this list.
In Birmingham, Special School staff have been included in the Social Care field and we are querying whether the Early Years workforce could be considered in light of the wider opening of early years provision to all children.
This cannot be confirmed at this current time.
Birmingham City Council has already explicitly stated that the Early Years workforce will be supported and considered alongside Teachers for any priority access to vaccinations.
I understand that this is incredibly frustrating and not welcome news, and I would like to again thank you and your teams for the incredible work you are doing every day to ensure the children in our city are able to access their Early Years education and childcare.
Lindsey Trivett
Head of Early Years, Childcare and Children’s Centres, Birmingham Early Years and Childcare Service
You can access up-to-date information and guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19) via the Birmingham City Council website: birmingham.gov.uk/coronavirus_advice