Love your educators? Make them a priority for the vaccine, The Parenthood says

It’s now clear that early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are sites of COVID-19 transmission and the Delta strain poses greater risk for both children and educators, Executive Director of The Parenthood Georgie Dent said, calling for educators to be prioritised for the COVID-19 vaccine following Early Childhood Educators’ Day yesterday.

“The Federal Government must help protect the workforce and children with urgent priority COVID-19 vaccine access for all early educators, especially in lockdown areas,” she said.

As parents expressed thanks and gratitude on Early Childhood Educators’ Day yesterday, The Parenthood is calling on the Federal Government to “step up, respect this critical workforce and prioritise vaccination for early educators”.

Over the past seven days, nearly 1,000 children aged under nine years of age have tested positive for COVID-19 in NSW and 1,700 children under five years of age have COVID-19 nationally. 

There are now 176 early learning services closed nationally as a result of the latest Delta wave of the virus, 137 of which are in NSW. Several early learning services have also been listed as Tier-1 exposure sites in Victoria.

“Early childhood educators are essential frontline workers who fulfil the invaluable role of educating, supporting and caring for children and their families,” Ms Dent said.

“The Federal Government must help protect the workforce and children with urgent priority COVID-19 vaccine access for all early educators, especially in lockdown areas. Keeping educators safe from COVID is the bare minimum this workforce needs right now.” 

“The nation’s early educators deserve better pay and conditions as well as long-term government planning to address urgent workforce challenges,” she added.