The VIEW executive committee has issued the following statement on vaccinations:
VIEW is the professional association for the Vision Impairment Education Workforce. Teachers of children and young people with vision impairment (QTVIs) and other VI specialist support staff work in a range of settings including special and mainstream schools, nurseries and homes. They often visit several settings each day to do work that may require extended periods of close contact because of a child’s vision impairment. In terms of their working practices this puts them into the same risk category as many health and social care staff.
VIEW calls on those local authorities that have not already done so to recognise that QTVIs and VI specialist support staff should be prioritised for vaccination alongside their colleagues in health and social care. This will allow them to safely comply with the government guidance that specialist interventions for vulnerable children should go ahead as usual.