Early last week, parents in the Valencian Community were given less than 24 hours notice to decide whether to allow schools to administer the covid vaccine to their younger children, aged between 9 and 11.
80% of parents of schoolchildren signed the permission form for their children to be vaccinated at school – the form was sent home on Monday evening and had to be returned to school by Tuesday morning. Around one in five children did not bring the relevant parental authorisation to school, said officials. Health authorities in the province aim to vaccinate around 66,000 children before tomorrow, December 22nd.
Some schools reported up to 98% consent given across the board while others reported classes with only a third of consent forms signed.
Parents’ associations fought to allow a parent accompany their child during the vaccine process and in the end, the government did relent.
Of those who have not authorised the vaccine, said principals, most are students who are already confined (not at school for ten days due to a positive case of covid in the class) or those from separated families, in which case the signature of both parents is required and given the very short timeframe specified, some families were not able to make arrangements in time.
For children who were not able to bring signed consent, or for those whose parents work and were not able to accompany their child for the vaccine, the Ministry of Education has said it will be flexible in this regard in order that in the end, the vast majority of children are successfully vaccinated. Those who still wish to be vaccinated but who missed last week’s deadline for consent can have their first dose when their classmates receive their second dose at a later stage.
For children with special educational needs, both the teachers of these children and the families themselves maintain that it is preferable for these students to avoid the presence of a relative, in order to maintain their usual school routine. It has also been proposed by the health workers themselves that nurses come into the classroom rather than the child having to go to the gymnasium or cafeteria to be jabbed in order to avoid disruption which would ultimately upset the child.
For the remainder of the children, local health centres have been informing the schools of the day and time of the vaccine, and schools pass this information on to families.