Thousands of teachers across Victoria are due to be stood down on Thursday for not getting a third Covid-19 jab.
Victoria and the Northern Territory are the only states to mandate a booster shot for teachers.
All staff are required to have three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, unless they have a medical exemption.
Principals say the permanent loss of thousands of teachers due to vaccination mandates is heightening staff shortages in schools across the state.
Thousands of teachers across Victoria are due to be stood down on Thursday for not getting a third Covid-19 jab mandated by Daniel Andrews’ government
More than 1300 state school teachers and 1300 private teachers had not met the vaccination guidelines as of December 2021, a spokesperson for the Red Union told the Herald Sun.
‘Although some were vaccinated over the holidays, the fact that there is now a requirement for three shots means more teachers are now not meeting the mandate,’ the spokesman said.
The three dose mandate also applies to visitors and volunteers to school grounds, however parents were recently exempt from the requirement.
Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton said authorities would collaborate with industries in the coming months to ‘transition’ away from the mandates.
Remaining teachers have been forced to combine classes in larger spaces to work around staff absences and cancel school excursions.
The Red Union spokesman said there were ‘no excuses’ for a mandated third jab which he said was crippling the workforce.
Victoria’s three dose mandate also applies to visitors and volunteers to school grounds, however parents were recently exempt from the requirement (pictured, students in Sydney)
The Department of Education states 99.2 per cent of the state’s government teachers had received three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
NSW also announced this week changes to vaccine mandates for workers in some sectors and industries including teachers.
Premier Dominic Perrottet last week announced from Friday, April 22, public health orders requiring key workers to be vaccinated would be lifted.
Aged care and disability staff will still require vaccination, but other areas will shift to mandates based on the assessed risk of the role.
That could mean vaccine mandates for workers such as teachers and police are adjusted, however, a spokesperson for Ms Mitchell told AAP the public health orders covering teachers are current until mid-May.
Mandated vaccines for teachers and other essential workers has caused staff shortages across Victoria (pictured, attendees of a Freedom Rally in December, 2021)
It comes as Victorian students in grades three to six are no longer required to wear a mask as they returned to classrooms on Tuesday.
The contentious mask rule, which was criticised by several health experts in the interests of learning outcomes and socialising, was introduced last October.
The Victorian Department of Education and Training still recommends face coverings in school settings, with some students to continue to wear a mask.
Students deemed close or household contacts will no longer be required to isolate in line with the rest of the community, as long as safety precautions are taken.
The school must be notified the child is a close contact, with the student required to return a negative RAT five out of seven days and wear a mask while indoors.
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