The Government is resisting pressure to move teachers up its vaccination schedule in the face of moves by unions this week to back ballots for strike action.

All three teacher unions look set to debate emergency motions at their annual conferences on Wednesday seeking ballots on industrial action within weeks unless their members are given higher priority for vaccination.

Any industrial action will not affect the planned reopening of schools on April 12th, according to the unions.

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However, it could disrupt the current academic year at primary level or the new school year in September at secondary level.

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The row follows the Government’s decision last week to introduce an age-based system for vaccinating the population instead of one that prioritises front-line professions.

The unions say there is widespread anger and frustration over the “downgrading” of the teaching profession on the vaccination list.

Unions, as well as representative bodies for gardaí, want the Government to introduce a parallel process which would see those in front-line roles receive their vaccines in separate streams at mass centres. This would run side by side with the system in place for the general public.

The Irish National Teachers’Organisation (INTO) is pushing for potential industrial action in May or June. Secondary teachers’ unions are reluctant to disrupt the Leaving Cert and say any action would likely be early in the new academic year.

However, Government and health service sources believe such a move would result in pressure for similar arrangements for tens of thousands of retail and transport workers, among others.

Medical advice

A Government spokesman said on Monday the latest vaccination sequencing is “based on medical advice to protect the most medically vulnerable in society”.

“The evidence has shown age is by far the biggest factor in serious illness, hospitalisation and mortality due to Covid-19,” the spokesman said.

"Many essential workers have played an important part since the start of the pandemic. The National Immunisation Advisory Committee has explained the rationale to various stakeholders, and based on the medical advice this is the safest and swiftest way to roll the vaccine programme out."

Senior Government sources indicated on Monday that a reversal on the new vaccine priority list was not likely. Several sources said the new list was the “fastest and fairest way” to roll out the vaccines, and had been recommended by public health experts.

Senior coalition sources said many essential workers had worked throughout the pandemic and argued other groups could make claims for early vaccination if it bowed to teachers’ demands.

One source said there was “no sense in Government that anyone wants to do a U-turn on this”.

A spokesman for Minister for Education Norma Foley – who is due to address the INTO on Tuesday – said it remained her position that the vaccination programme should be guided by public health experts.

Her spokesman also confirmed that the secretary general of her department attended a senior officials’ meeting on March 24th, which heard that changes to the vaccine allocation strategy were being considered by the advisory committee.

Ms Foley was then made aware of this, but her spokesman said she only “became aware of the output of that process when the Minister for Health brought a memo to Cabinet” last week.