Teachers in Wales are being bombarded with threats from anti-vaccine campaigners as the roll-out for the vaccine to all 12 and 15-year-olds gathers pace in Wales this week.
The Welsh Government has said they will be offered a Covid vaccine by the end of the October half-term. Read more about the vaccines being given in the evenings and weekends.
All health boards will be providing the Pfizer vaccine, mostly at mass vaccination centres and others in schools.
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But the head of a teaching union has revealed that many headteachers have been targeted as part of a "well-coordinated" campaign.
Letters circulated by campaign groups and parents are accusing schools of sanctioning “medical experimentation”.
Eithne Hughes, director of the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru, told BBC Radio Wales on Monday said the letters contain threats of court action and huge fines, and some have even been fake Wales NHS consent forms. The aim of those forms is to try and trick schools into sending misinformation out to parents. Read more about fake vaccine consent forms circulating in Welsh schools.
She told BBC Radio Wales on Monday: "This has caused real upset in the system. We have to be really clear about this, the virus is the enemy, not Public Health Wales, not the school and college leaders, who are doing their very best to educate learners and get everything back on track again.
"It is deeply disappointing. It could be classed as harassment. It is a well-coordinated campaign and has affected a lot of schools."
Last week the Welsh Government warned that fake vaccine consent forms are being circulated in schools by anti-vaccine groups aiming to "spread fear and mistrust".
They urged parents to remain vigilant and tell them: "Get your facts from reliable sources."
In England, members of the campaign group Outreach Worldwide gathered in north London last week to hand out leaflets and talk to pupils at home time as part of they described as an “informed consent campaign”.
Ms Hughes added that the vaccine programme should help to reduce the disruption schools are seeing.
"I can say without a shadow of a doubt that schools are experiencing disruption this term and are telling me that this September has been the most challenging of the pandemic," she said.
"Attendance has been poor, supply teachers are not there. It has been very, very difficult for schools to function, as is, so this vaccine will provide a front line of defence and should reduce the prevalence of spread and should help steady up a very, very disrupted picture of education.
"We are very positively inclined to the vaccine. There are something in the region of 80,000 pupils who have missed school as a result of illness, or Covid related illness. This vaccine should help to reduce the risk of disruption."
Health Minister Eluned Morgan said studies showed children were at some risk of developing long Covid despite low hospital admission rates.
"Vaccines remain our strongest defence from the virus, helping prevent harm and stopping the spread of Covid-19," she said. "Some studies show one in seven children who have been infected with the virus are thought to have also developed long Covid.
"We have provided resources and information to help this age group make an informed choice about vaccination. I encourage parents, guardians, children and young people to discuss the vaccination together."
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