Scottish Labour is calling on all school staff in Scotland to be given priority for the covid booster jabs next month.
Cases of coronavirus have spiked across the country in the last week following the return of pupils from their summer break.
Scotland has recorded its highest daily case rate in the past week three times with hospital admissions also rising considerably over the same time period.
Over the winter period school staff will be treated as a priority for the flu vaccine, however Labour now wants the same for the covid jab.
Coronavirus booster vaccines are set to be rolled out across the country next month, however a date has not been set.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) published its interim advice on June 30 on adult booster vaccinations.
Advice is to begin offering booster jabs in a two-stage programme alongside the annual flu vaccination programme.
Scottish Labour education spokesperson Michael Marra said: "Staff and pupil safety must be the absolute priority. It makes little sense to prioritise school staff for the winter flu jab, but not the covid booster.
"As the decision looms, the Scottish Government must act. All through the pandemic they have been too slow to make decisions in the interests of safety and the continuity of learning.
"The attainment impact of school closures has been immense, and there is no recognition from the government of the scale of the challenge, far less a plan to deal with it.”
The Scottish Government said it would update its plans on the booster programme once the final advice was published by the JCVI.
A spokesperson for the government said: "The safety of school pupils and staff has been a top priority throughout the pandemic, as has keeping children and young people in schools wherever it is safe to do so.
"We recently published detailed updated guidance, informed by expert advice, to help ensure that as schools return they remain low risk environments for infection and transmission of the virus.
"We are currently planning for the booster programme using the interim advice from the JCVI, but these plans will be updated once we have final advice from this independent clinical group.
"We are considering how best to protect the most vulnerable as part of our plans for both seasonal flu and a COVID booster.”
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
