The UK’s vaccination programme is leading the world effort in the fight against Coronavirus, with the Government already vaccinating over 20 million people in the top four priority groups.
Currently anyone over 50 can be vaccinated, but many key-workers around Sheffield are angry about them not being prioritised more highly.
Julie Ramsden, 50, who works for a special school in Sheffield said: “We feel safe at the moment due to less pupils, but that will change, it is very scary for us all”.
Teachers in all settings are calling for more protection, this comes after the Government was criticised earlier in the pandemic for not giving teachers sufficient PPE.
Ms Ramsden said: “The children are autistic so find it hard to wear masks, one member of staff has been vaccinated at present time and I see people who are 10 and 20 years younger than some of us being vaccinated, some without underlying health conditions”.
Workers in other settings are also calling for greater protection against the disease and supermarket workers have worked with the public throughout the Pandemic.
Jordan Leanne, 27, who works in Aldi said: “Many of us have contracted the virus, faced abuse from the public and worked tirelessly with zero concern about our health and safety”.
A petition online calling for retail workers to be prioritised for a vaccine is close to 50,000 signatures.
Ms Leanne said: “We’ve had around 16 positive cases in a team of 40 staff, it’s simply not good enough to expect us to wait, I think all key workers regardless of age or job title should be prioritised for vaccination”.
Key-workers that have not already had the vaccine are due to have it when all people over 50 have been offered and received their first dose.