Vaccines for teachers of special needs kids a priority: Health Minister

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Teachers working with children who have special needs would be on a priority list for COVID-19 vaccines, Health Minister Christine Elliott says.

“That’s something we’re considering right now because we know that teachers, EAs and so on for children with special needs in school do have higher risk because some of the children don’t realize that they need to wear a mask,” Elliott said Wednesday.

Sophie Loszmann, principal of CE Academy, a private school for children with neurological disabilities in locked-down Peel Region, has made repeated requests for COVID-19 vaccinations for her 10 staff members but was told to wait in line.

Several facilities providing similar hands-on instruction and care for special needs children in Toronto have been vaccinated with at least one dose.

Elliott said her ministry is carefully following the issue of regional gaps in Ontario’s vaccination effort.

Discussions are underway with public health medical officers of health as well as the heads of hospitals who run mass and other kinds of vaccination clinics, she said.

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“Now, some of the units are moving further ahead with some of the age groups, they’re going down to younger age groups because they’ve been successful in vaccinating their older groups,” Elliott said. “But it’s still important to remember all of the other categories of people that need to be included there — the patient-facing public health workers, people who are living and working in congregate care.”

While important, age is not the only factor under consideration in the provincial vaccine priority framework, she said.

Risk of exposure to COVID-19 also influences someone’s place on the priority list, added Elliott.

aartuso@postmedia.com