I feel very lucky to have been chosen to have the Covid vaccine. Even though I’m not fully protected after a single dose, it still gives me some peace of mind to know that I’m at least 50 per cent protected. I can come into school and do my job with less risk.

I teach at a special educational needs primary school. I’m currently teaching Year 6, working with pupils with autism and moderate learning difficulties. As well as teaching the curriculum, we do lots of work with independence and life skills - washing hands, helping them go to the toilet, administering medicine: lots of intimate and personal care. 

Our borough - Islington, in North London - included special-school staff along with social-care staff in the vaccine priority list. We do similar work to social-care staff - especially the intimate care side of our job - and Islington obviously recognised that.

Before we had the vaccine, we tried our best to make the school as safe as possible for our staff. But it was quite an anxious time for everyone. Coming into work and knowing that you’re going to work closely with children meant that people worried they might be bringing the virus home to their families.

Coronavirus: selected as a vaccine priority group

We have members of staff who are vulnerable, either because of their age or because of underlying health conditions. It’s been terrifying for them. I’m from the black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) community, and hearing that people from the BAME community are at greater risk from Covid was also stressful. I found it quite worrying, coming into work and taking public transport in. 

But also some of our children can be quite vulnerable. Their medical needs might put them at greater risk from Covid. So, as a teacher, you’re worried you’re going to get the virus yourself and you’re worried that you’re going to give it to someone who’s vulnerable. You’re trying to protect yourself but also your pupils and their families. 

The vaccine happened very quickly. We had a message from our headteacher saying that we’d been selected as a priority group. We filled out some forms and then we were told to come into hospital. They checked our forms and we saw a nurse, who answered any questions we had. Then we went into a second room and had the vaccine. We waited 15 minutes after that, to check that we were OK and hadn’t had any adverse reactions. Then we were able to leave. It all happened within about two days.

There was some hesitancy about having the vaccine among staff: a lot of people took it but some decided not to. People mistrusted the vaccine itself, or felt it was rolled out too quickly. People from the BAME community, in particular, have suffered from racism and their reaction is not to put their trust in institutions. So there’s lots of mistrust and misinformation. 

I think we need to do a lot more work in winning the BAME community’s trust. Having the vaccine is really, really important for us in order to be able to do our job and to stay healthy - especially as Covid has affected those communities even more. We need to build people’s trust and overcome their fears.

‘There’s a bit of hope now’

Of course, we know that we’re not fully covered against Covid. We know there’s still some risk of getting the virus or passing it on to someone else. It’s really important for me always to keep that in the back of my mind. 

But I feel there’s a bit of hope now. I’ve had the vaccine - I’m protected in some way. It gives me more confidence coming into work. And it puts my mind at rest when I’m working with the children. 

After having the vaccine, I feel like a lot of my staff have relaxed a bit more. Not that we’ve stopped following the guidelines - of course not. But it just feels a lot more relaxed now. It feels like there might be an end to all this. And after we’ve had our second dose, we’ll be able to do our jobs without extra stress - it’ll be great to know we’re all protected. 

I feel that all teachers should be given priority access to the vaccine - especially early years teachers, who are often following the same kind of intimate-care routines with their pupils as we are with ours. If a child falls over, they want to be able to give them a hug, so having the vaccine is extremely important to them.

But, equally, secondary teachers are working with older children, who are more likely to transmit the virus. 

Teaching is such an important job. And when children who have been off school for such a long time, it’s important for their mental health that we’re able to welcome them back to school without being stressed and anxious ourselves.

Mica McQueen teaches at the Bridge Primary School, in north London, part of The Bridge London Trust