THE public supports our bid to prioritise teachers for the Covid-19 vaccine in Phase 2 of the rollout, a poll revealed.
Teachers topped the poll, which asked who should be next after the most vulnerable.
Pressure is growing on Boris Johnson to get school staff vaccinated.
In a poll by Ipsos MORI, 46% said school and nursery staff should come before healthy 60 to 69-year-olds, ahead of 42% for emergency service workers.
Labour wants school staff vaccinated in the February half term to make it safer if pupils start to back from March 8.
Keir Starmer said it was vital to avoid staff being off sick or isolating due to Covid-19. He said: “It’s likely to go back to the disruption we have in September and October.
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“Everybody knows what the impact on children would be, in one week, out the next. It’s really disruptive.”
But critics say it would be unfair for younger key workers to get their vaccines ahead of those in their 50s or 60s. Once the over-50s are vaccinated mortality is expected to drop by 99% and hospitalisations by 85%.
Another 1,239 people have died from the virus, taking the toll to 103,126.
All over-70s, shielders, care home residents and NHS and care staff should be vaccinated by mid-February. In Phase 2, the NHS will offer the jab to those aged 50 to 69, plus other people at risk due to their health.
Healthy teachers, police and other groups under 50 would only start getting first doses in about April.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is expected to meet in mid-February to decide the order. NHS England boss Sir Simon Stevens has said there is a “legitimate discussion” to be had about vaccinating professions, such as teachers, with the 50 to 69-year-olds.
The four UK Children’s Commissioners wrote to the JCVI asking for teachers to be prioritised, with those in special schools first, They wrote: “This would help to ensure that staff, teachers and young people all have confidence in the school system.”
After that, 35% wanted police officers to get the jab and and 33% wanted supermarket and shop workers.
Then came 31% for the 60 to 69-year-olds who are currently next in the queue, followed by people who care for vulnerable relatives and other public sector workers.
Just 8% thought 50 to 59-year-olds should be the first in line for ‘phase two’ of the roll-out.
A further 21% said teachers would be their second priority.
Kelly Beaver, of Ipsos MORI, said: “The prioritisation of who gets a vaccine is a tough choice for any Government who have to weigh up a range of issues when it comes to deciding who gets the vaccine and when.
“But the British public are clear that after the currently prioritised groups it’s our teachers and emergency workers who should be next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine, even ahead of those aged 60-69.”
The deputy chief medical officer has said that teachers are not “markedly” more likely than other people to catch coronavirus or die from it.
Prof Jonathan Van-Tam said while teachers do get sick and die from Covid, it was unclear where they were predominantly picking up the infection.
But schools are vectors for transmission with children and staff passing the virus back into the community.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said teachers “by virtue of them having to go out and do a frontline facing job, are more at risk of catching Covid”.
It is not yet known whether the vaccine will prevent against transmission of the disease.
Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the JCVI, has said if vaccines are found to prevent transmission, rolling out jabs to teachers may be fast-tracked.
He said: “If studies do show they prevent transmission, it could be a whole new board game in terms of who you vaccinate and in what order.
“But at the moment our clear focus is trying to prevent hospitalisations and deaths.”
Cabinet minister Michael Gove said the Government wanted to concentrate on vaccinating “the most vulnerable first”.
He said that any decision on who should be prioritised next would be based on the JCVI’s cientific advice.
Teachers’ leaders have unveiled their own ‘roadmap’ for reopening schools in just over five weeks time amid fears the Government hasn’t done enough to make them safe.
The National Education Union has called for unveils teachers to be vaccinated and for ministers to sit down for talks with schools.
They said secondary pupils and teachers should wear face-coverings in the classroom, when before lockdown they were just used in corridors.
And they’ve called for more space in marquees and unsused buildings to enable proper social-distancing and rotas to allow pupils to be more spread out.
Schools should have better ventilation but get heating costs reimbursed if they increased as a result.
NEU chief Mary Bousted said the plan was a “safe and sustainable way” of reopening schools - and avoiding the disruption of large numbers of pupils and staff off.
“We all want schools and colleges to be fully open again, but this needs to be properly planned with measures in place to address the problems already encountered and to ensure a safe and sustained return. Plans also need to be in place for remote learning,” she said.
“Unions, school leaders, teachers and staff are tired of last-minute guidance and u-turns. Families, also, have been stung once too often by false hope.
“School leaders can then begin making arrangements, confident that their time is not being wasted and that there is real potential for long-term solutions.”
The poll results come as one hard-pressed mum told of the rocketing costs of homeschooling – and how the Mirror’s Help a Child to Learn campaign will help her.
Leanne Readman, 31, lives on the Thorntree estate in Middlesbrough, North Yorks, which is one of the 10 most deprived neighbourhoods in England according to Government data.
Daughter Olivia, 10, and son Harley, four, are both at home with Leanne, who worked as a teaching assistant until she was made redundant.
Our campaign for essential equipment began with £1million from the National Education Union, and raised £40,000 in the first 24 hours.
“In some respects we’re lucky because my partner works but we’ve felt the financial cost of homeschooling,” Leanne said.
“It isn’t just the exercise books, paper, pens and pencils. I had to buy desks.
“My food bill has gone up from £52 a week to £135. The fuel bill was £92 a month and is £130. There is not much left at the end of the month.”
Another Thorntree mum, who asked not to be named, found herself in an even worse situation.
Receiving £400 every two weeks in Universal credit, the mum-of-three, 23, cannot afford net access.
She said: “The only way we can get online is on my phone which is useless for schoolwork.
“We had to ask the school to send work. When it arrived it was totally inappropriate for her age. It makes me really worried that she’ll fall behind.