Quebec teachers unions called on Wednesday for their members to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as high school students in red zones are set to return to class full time next week.
The Fédération autonome de l’enseignement, the Centrale des syndicats du Québec and the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers have asked the provincial government to prioritize vaccination for their members as more contagious variants of the novel coronavirus spread through schools.
Heidi Yetman, president of Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers, said Legault’s announcement on Tuesday about the return to class for high school students was a “bombshell” for her members, who were not consulted.
She said the decision to increase the number of students in classes is risky, noting that Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, has warned contagious variants are spreading among younger people.
“It’s very concerning that the very same day Dr. Tam says younger people are getting the variant, the Legault government opens up classes to more students,” she said.
In a statement, the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement asked the government to vaccinate all teachers working in schools with presumed or confirmed cases of more contagious variants of the virus.
It asked the government to expand a pilot project that began Monday, under which vaccinations are being administered to teachers and parents in two Montreal neighbourhoods where a variant is spreading widely.
Variants do not respond to postal codes,” president Sylvain Mallette said in the statement.
Premier François Legault announced on Tuesday that high school students in red zones, such as Montreal, will return to class full time next week. Students in Grades 9 and up had been attending class in person one day out of every two.
Legault and the province’s public health director acknowledged on Tuesday there are risks to the plan but said the return to class is best for teens’ mental health.
Yetman agrees it’s important for students to be in class, but says the province’s plan will have the opposite effect by forcing more classrooms to close because of COVID-19 cases.
Before sending more students into crowded classrooms, the government should address other issues, such as improving ventilation, increasing rapid testing and vaccinating teachers, she said.
“To reopen the Grade 10 and 11 classes fully, to me is a risk,” she said.
“The other thing we have to consider is, it’s not just a risk to the teachers and working staff but also to the students and the wider community.”
While children are far less likely to suffer serious complications from COVID-19, rare events do occur.
The Bas-St-Laurent region, which is struggling with dozens of cases linked to a suspected variant, reported Tuesday that a two-year-old child is among those in hospital with the disease. Public health authorities did not specify why the young child was hospitalized or whether it was as a precaution.
Health authorities in the region have expressed concern in recent days after a rise in cases linked to a suspected virus mutation, which has required more than 750 schoolchildren and staff to go into isolation.
The CISSS du Bas-St-Laurent wrote on Tuesday it was contending with 12 outbreaks, including one in the pediatric unit of a hospital and six in schools.
Legault has also asked residents in two other regions — the Outaouais and the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean — to reduce their contacts in response to a rise in cases.
Comments