, Labour’s Shadow Education
Secretary, responding to new statistics showing over
248,000 children were absent from school due to Covid on 21
October, said:
“Children are being let down by the Conservative’s ongoing
failure to get a grip of the pandemic, missing out on vital time
in school and with their friends.
“Labour has been urging Ministers to make better use of community
pharmacies, walk-in clinics and pop-up clinics, alongside
bringing back volunteers and retired clinicians, to speed-up
the vaccine roll-out to children over 12. We have also
called for the government to finally introduce the ventilation
measures in schools that Sage recommended well over a year ago
and give schools the support they need on masks and other
mitigations.
“The Conservatives have been complacent and the wall of defence
against Covid is crumbling. The Education Secretary must get a
grip and stop treating children’s education as an afterthought.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
87,000 pupils with a suspected case of
coronavirus,
127,000 pupils with a confirmed case of
coronavirus,
12,000 pupils absent from open settings due
to attendance restrictions being in place to manage an
outbreak,
15,000 pupils absent from open settings due
to isolation for other reasons,
7,000 pupils were absent as a result of
school closures due to COVID-related reasons
- This is an increase of nearly a fifth in a fortnight – up
19.2% from 208,000 to 248,000
- To support increased vaccine roll-out Labour is calling for:
- Better using community pharmacy, walk-in clinics and pop up
clinics in the jab roll out, to make it easier for parents to get
their children jabbed and for people to get their booster doses;
- Bringing back more volunteers and retired clinicians to speed
up the roll out in schools and communities;
- Clear, targeted communications to parents on the jab roll
out, the benefits of vaccination alongside campaign that targets
anti-vax disinformation aimed at children and parents;
- Clarity for parents on the next steps for the approval of the
vaccine for under 12s, after the Pfizer jab was approved in the
US.
- Allowing those who are immuno-compromised to book their third
doses online
