As Canarian teachers prepare to receive Covid vaccines over the coming weeks, the performance of schools continues to offer hope and encouragement. Currently, of 1,296 classes of all ages on Lanzarote, just four are currently in quarantine because of a suspected contact with an active case.
A total of 18 pupils are currently classed as positive, while no teachers are currently suffering from the coronavirus on the island. The figures mean that just 0.3% of classes on the island are in isolation. The figure is even lower in the Canaries as a whole, at 0.2%.
The successful performance of schools has been attributed to strict anti-Covid measures that pupils and teachers are expected to comply with. These include mask-wearing at almost all times, distanced desks, ordered entry and exit from classes, ventilation measures and a member of staff devoted to Covid protocols.
Many teachers are more worried about exhaustion than Covid, as their workload has increased considerably during the pandemic. Schools now operate two shifts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and teachers are expected to prepare online classes and work for children who are in quarantine, as well as give face-to-face classes as usual and enforce the anti-Covid measures. .
In contrast to the UK, where teachers and police have been angered by the government’s refusal to give them any kind of priority; the Spanish vaccine plan has placed both these sets of workers in Group 6 (Workers Essential to Society), and vaccinations are already under way for police and security forces at the Health Centre in Valterra.
Nevertheless, many of these jabs are likely to be delayed given the suspension of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine pending further investigation of reported side effects. The AZ vaccine was being given to all Group 6 members under the age of 55, while extra supplies of the Pfizer Vaccine had been ordered to deal with older teaching staff.
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