Sir, – The unions representing teachers are claiming, quite rightly, that the classroom is a dangerous environment for their members during this pandemic.
It would therefore make sense to prioritise the vaccination of teachers, which would allay their fears, thereby ensuring they can return to the classroom immediately.
This would allow the children to get back to school and free up all those parents who are currently unable to return to the workplace due to commitments to their children because they are off school.
A further benefit would be the ability of part-time workers, who are not receiving any Government Covid payments but whose working hours have been severely restricted due to home schooling constraints, to work their regular hours as normal. Many of these employees are suffering enormous financial strain and this is having a very serious impact on their mental health, with obvious ramifications for all the members of their families. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL MOYLES,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.