Teachers will be fully vaccinated by the time they return to school in September, unions have been told. The Cabinet decision was based on advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) at a time when there was a lot of uncertainty about the timetable for the national vaccination roll-out. The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) and the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) sought agreement on a schedule for teachers by the end of the current school year and warned of ballots for industrial action, up to strike if it was not delivered. Public health advisers told unions that, by end of this week, teachers who are pregnant and between 14 and 36 weeks’ gestation, teachers in high-risk categories of health and those aged 45 and over are expected to have been offered vaccines. They also confirmed that they expect that all teachers will be offered vaccines by the end of the school year and that those who require a second dose will be offered one by mid-August.

Source: Irish Independent May 21, 2021 15:22 UTC