Covid-19: Vaccine plea after virus 'rips through' teacher's family

Katrina Thurman said she felt lucky "we're all still here" after a number of family members caught the virus

A teacher who believes she picked up the coronavirus that "ripped through her family" at work has called for teaching staff to be vaccinated.

Katrina Thurman, 63, from Leicester, wants teachers to be added to the priority list for the vaccine after she and six family members got the virus.

She said it was not possible to prevent infections in classrooms and the move could help schools reopen sooner.

A government spokesman said jabs were prioritised based on expert advice.

Mrs Thurman, who has been working as a supply teacher in primary schools, said teachers had been put on the "front line".

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the school she was working with was doing "absolutely everything they could" to keep staff safe.

Boris Johnson announced on Monday that schools had to close for all but key worker and vulnerable children in a bid to stop rising infection rates

"But with a virus this contagious there is only so much that can stop it from spreading," she added.

"While I understand how important it is for children to be in education, I don't think there was any other option but to close schools, in fact I think it should have happened sooner."

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She said she caught the virus six or seven weeks ago and continues to suffer some of the effects of long Covid.

"My husband had it, then my two step-sons, the three of them work together, their wives then got it and one of my step-grandchildren ended up with it too.

"It was scary to see it rip through the family at the speed it did. We were taking all the precautions, following the rules but it still passed on," Mrs Thurman said.

Teachers are not currently in the four groups the government has said it will vaccinate by mid-February.

There have been calls for school staff to be prioritised from a number of authorities including the chair of the Education Select Committee, the children's commissioner for England and teaching unions.

A spokesman for the Department for Health and Social Care said the government was following the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on who to vaccinate in the first phase.

He added: "The JVCI's expert advice made clear that the immediate priority must be to protect the most vulnerable people in our society, and healthcare staff on the front line."

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