Covid: Prioritise teachers for vaccine, says Peter Weir

Schoolteachers in Northern Ireland should be given priority to receive the Covid-19 vaccination, Education Minister Peter Weir has said.

He said he had proposed the idea to fellow Stormont ministers because it would "enable continuity of learning".

Teachers in schools for children with special educational needs should be "very high up in the queue", he added.

During much of January most special schools have remained open for all of their pupils on a full-time basis.

A small number of special schools have chosen to operate on a part-time basis in order to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus.

Only vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers are able to attend nursery, primary and post-primary schools until after the February mid-term break.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra, Mr Weir said he was "very much in favour" of early vaccination for teachers and other staff working in schools.

He said that priority should be a UK-wide policy and that he was speaking to ministers across the UK in an attempt to achieve that.

But he called for the Stormont executive to "see what it can do to speed up" the prioritisation.

"I think there's a critical case that I want to see fast-tracked as much as possible - those staff who are very gallantly ensuring they are providing a service for special needs children," he said.

"Those working in special schools have got to be very high up in the queue," he added.

By Thursday a total of 166,538 vaccines had been administered in Northern Ireland, according to the Department of Health.

Of that number, 144,212 were first doses and the remaining 22,326 were second doses.

Prioritisation for the vaccine is decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises UK health departments on immunisation.

Last week a detailed detailed timetable for delivering vaccinations to prioritised groups in Northern Ireland was published.