An Ayrshire council is calling on the Scottish Government to vaccinate teachers and school staff as a priority.
East Ayrshire's councillors want to see the priority vaccination groups widened to include education employees in primaries and secondaries.
A decision to ask the government to include teachers in the vaccination programme earlier was made at a full council meeting on Thursday following a motion.
The Rubbish Party councillor Sally Cogley lodged the motion which gained majority support.
The Irvine Valley politician said: “I feel relieved the motion has been passed by East Ayrshire Council.
“I hope the voice of the council will be heard by the Scottish Government and will influence the debate. I feel strongly teachers and school staff should be vaccinated so children can get back to school safety and consistently.
“This is categorically not a debate about the comparative value of one occupational group versus another.”
Seventeen councillors, including Labour, Conservative and Independent, supported the motion. Fourteen SNP politicians voted against.
Councillor Cogley’s motion read: “This pandemic has adversely impacted upon all of our school children who have now missed nearly a year of classroom education. Children from more challenged backgrounds suffer the most.
“It is likely that the attainment gap is likely to stand still at best and, potentially worsen. We need to act now by getting our teachers and school staff vaccinated, getting our schools open and getting our children back into the classrooms safely, all as a matter of priority.”
Currently, the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority categories include people with certain conditions, health and social care staff and those aged over 50.
Next in line will be people in their 40s once everyone in the Over-50s category has received a jag.
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