Teachers not receiving priority in vaccination rollout

Last week, Peter Vogt, the Nicola Valley Teachers’ Union President, sent a letter to the Interior Health Authority asking why teachers aren’t being prioritized in the vaccine rollout.

Vogt asked two questions; Why is the Interior Health Authority refusing to prioritize teachers as front-line workers? And, when will teachers receive vaccinations that make our schools and communities safer?

Despite the work from the Union to bring attention to the issue, Vogt told Q101 teachers will have to wait for their age group to come up.

“They responded last week,” said Vogt. “The direct question I asked in the end was, if a teacher phones in and says I’m a teacher will they get prioritized based on that? The answer is no.”

“The reality of the situation is teachers were told they were going to be prioritized in phase-3, which started in April,” added Vogt. “Except for places were there has been multiple outbreaks, like Surrey and Fraser Health area, there hasn’t been any prioritization for teachers. And they don’t really have any plans to change that.”

Vogt did add that teachers in Kelowna may be getting access to vaccines as COVID-19 cases surge in that area.

“We’ll continue to push on it,” said Vogt. “We’ve pushed on a lot of issues but some of those issues toke a long time, like masks. We will continue to push back.”