Nursery groups have pleaded for help from the Government in vaccinating staff so that they can remain open to support keyworkers and keep the economy afloat.
Asked on BBC Breakfast whether nurseries should be open, vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said, ‘Yes. Those very youngest children – in terms of this virus, there is very little risk.
‘The nursery sector has taken tremendous care in making sure the premises are also Covid safe. It is the right thing to do.’
The chief executive of Co-op Childcare, which runs 45 nurseries across the country, has written to Mr Zahawi and minister Vicky Ford to urge the Government to prioritise Covid vaccinations for nursery workers and make lateral flow testing kits available to pre-school education providers.
Phil Ponsonby, CEO of Midcounties Co-operative, said that the Government has not provided any evidence in support of Mr Zahawi’s claim that nursery schools present ‘very little risk’ of transmission and is ignoring calls from the sector for more support.
He said, ‘The Government appears to be ignoring the vital role that pre-school education settings are playing in looking after young children, especially those whose parents are key workers on the front line of caring for people affected by Covid.
‘As a co-operative organisation representing the interests of 700,000 members, we are calling on the Government to do three things: to prioritise vaccinations for nursery workers; to re-direct the many thousands of lateral flow testing kits that were shipped to schools that are now closed, to pre-school nurseries and to provide financial support to the sector.
‘The financial viability of many nurseries, especially small independently-owned and run providers, is being tested to the extreme given the on-costs that they are bearing to run Covid-secure sites.’
He added, ‘As a large and diversified co-operative, Midcounties is fortunate to be able to subsidise many of these costs but this isn’t the case for many others. The Government needs to take action now by vaccinating childcare workers and provide additional support for the sector before nurseries have no other option but to close.’
Unison has also backed the call for early years staff to be made a priority for vaccination and mass testing and says that employees should not be expected to go into work until these safety measures are put in place.
Head of education, Jon Richards, said, ‘Keeping nurseries and other pre-schools open puts staff and communities at risk.
‘Social distancing is impossible with young children and the government has yet to publish the scientific evidence to justify nurseries being treated differently to schools.
‘The decision seems to have been taken with little regard to the health and safety of employees.
‘Ministers must treat nurseries the same as schools, as in the first lockdown. Staff must be a priority for vaccinations and mass testing.’
Responding to the news of Monday’s debate in Parliament, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘We warmly welcome plans to debate the need to prioritise education staff, including early years practitioners, for Covid-19 vaccinations.
‘While it is of course important that those in the community who are at most at risk of serious illness are first to receive this critical protection, the fact is that early years practitioners have a much higher level of potential exposure to Covid than many other working adults due to the close contact nature of their roles.
‘To date, we have had no specific evidence proving that early years settings are as "low-risk" as Government keeps insisting they are, particularly in light of the new strain of Covid. As such, for practitioners to be able to continue operating with any confidence that is safe to do so, it is vital that the Government provides the necessary protection, and there is no doubt that priority access to vaccinations, alongside mass asymptomatic testing, is absolutely pivotal to this.’
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said, ‘We’ve backed the petition which now has nearly 350,000 signatories and really welcome that this will now be debated by MPs in Parliament.
‘Nurseries want to stay open to support children and families at this time and have done a huge amount to make their settings Covid-safe. However, we all know it’s impossible to socially distance from babies and toddlers. Early years staff also deal with a lot of close personal care, from changing nappies to dealing with upset children.
‘Early years settings are now the only ones in the education sector fully open to all children. That’s why we’re highlighting the need to prioritise this sector for the vaccine as soon as is practically possible.’