TORONTO -- There are growing calls for child care staff and educators to be prioritized higher in the queue for COVID-19 vaccines, as daycares remain open as an essential service.
Ontario, where schools are currently closed to in-person learning amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, is , which includes teachers, early childhood educators (ECEs) and daycare workers, but immediate eligibility is not universal.
ECEs and daycare workers aged 55 and older are eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine, and those aged 60 and older are eligible for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
Those aged 18 and up living in one of Ontario鈥檚 鈥渉ot spot鈥 postal codes are also eligible for vaccination.
Phase 2 is estimated to run until June, but ECEs and daycare workers who don鈥檛 fit the current eligible age criteria or don鈥檛 live in a designated hot spot must wait until at least mid-May to June to get the shot, under the current rollout plans.
Julie Mantua, a registered ECE working at a child care centre in Oakville, Ont., said there haven鈥檛 been any 鈥渃lear answers鈥 as to when she, at age 39 and not in a 鈥渉ot spot,鈥 is eligible for vaccination under Phase 2.
鈥淚t鈥檚 disappointing because we are open, if we were shut down that [timeline] would have been fine but we鈥檝e been deemed essential and I feel like should have been taken into consideration,鈥 Mantua said in a telephone interview with CTVNews.ca Thursday.
Mantua also said the Ford government鈥檚 announcement moving schools to virtual learning over safety concerns felt like 鈥渕ixed messaging鈥 for those working as ECEs and in child care centres.
鈥淪aying it鈥檚 not safe for kids to be in schools, teachers to be in schools 鈥 well why is it safe for kids under five to be at child care and for ECEs to be at work?鈥 she said, adding that it is 鈥渁 little bit offensive鈥 for ECEs to not be considered educators prioritized for vaccines under Phase 2 the way teachers are.
鈥淚t's definitely a field that's been very underappreciated, not just in the last year, but since I've been working in the industry in the last 20 years,鈥 Mantua said. 鈥淭he first five years of a child's life is the most critical in child development and brain development - so recognize that we are educators, not just babysitters watching the kids, we鈥檙e like teachers.鈥
Mantua said she would like to see child care centres, many of them non-profit, receive personal protective equipment and assistance with air filtration devices if they are going to remain open as an essential service.
Supervisor of Toronto鈥檚 Petits Amis Children鈥檚 Centre, Vicki Rout, told CTVNews.ca in an email that it feels like the 鈥済overnment not only do not value daycare workers but are setting daycares up for outbreaks.鈥
Brian Public School, where the centre is located, was shut down by Toronto Public Health in March due to a COVID-19 outbreak, but the child care centre inside the school remained open to the toddler and pre-school programs.
鈥淚t has been very nerve-wracking for all involved,鈥 Rout said. 鈥淔or the families at the centre I鈥檓 sure they are nervous about having their child in daycare, for the staff鈥hey want to ensure that they and their families are safe.鈥
Rout said the Ontario government has put daycares in a 鈥渧ery tricky position.鈥
鈥淭hey keep saying how daycares and daycare teachers are essential but they do not treat us as essential,鈥 she said. 鈥淚f centres choose to close to protest the families they serve鈥hey may lose their grants the government provides 鈥 it centres stay open, how can they ensure everyone will be safe?鈥
Rout says daycare teachers 鈥渘eed protection now.鈥
Of the 5,238 child care centres open across Ontario, approximately 502 of them are dealing with at least one COVID-19 case, .
In a statement emailed to CTVNews.ca, Caitlin Clark, spokesperson for Ontario鈥檚 Minister of Education Stephen Lecce said 鈥渙ur commitment is to get every single child care worker in Ontario vaccinated as soon as supply becomes available 鈥 quite frankly we need more vaccines from the federal government to deliver on this urgent imperative鈥.Minister Lecce has continued to advocate for the accelerated delivery of vaccines to all child care workers as soon as supply is available.鈥
鈥淥ur priority is keeping our child care centers open and most especially safe,鈥 Clark wrote.
鈥楲OTS OF ANXIETY鈥
CEO of the Canadian Child Care Federation, Don Giesbrecht, said daycares and child care centres have become a 鈥減ressure point鈥 in terms of vaccination rollout.
鈥淲e know that child care has been essential since the beginning of COVID-19, we know that governments do not want to shut down child care the way they shut down schools,鈥 Giesbrecht said on CTV鈥檚 Your Morning Thursday. 鈥淭hey know that in order for other essential workers to go to work and other people to go to work, child care centres have to remain open so that families are economically viable.鈥
Giesbrecht said there is 鈥渓ots of anxiety鈥 when examining the 鈥渄isconnect鈥 for vaccine rollout.
鈥淲e鈥檒l use Ontario as a very prime example here 鈥 teachers have been flagged and prioritized for early vaccination while early childhood educators, those people working very closely and in a very caring environment with young children have not,鈥 he said.
Other provinces like Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have not included ECEs and daycare workers in their current phases of vaccine rollout.
In a statement emailed to CTVNews.ca, assistant director of communications for Alberta Health Tom McMillan said since last spring there have been fewer than 70 reported outbreaks in the 2,500 programs open and providing care to approximately 54,000 children in the province.
鈥淲e recognize that early childhood educators, daycare workers and many other occupations would benefit from receiving the vaccine, and we want to offer it to them as soon as possible,鈥 McMillan said, but added that 鈥渦nfortunately鈥 supply is limited.
鈥淓arly childhood educators and daycare workers are not specifically offered the vaccine as a group. Instead, anyone with a serious underlying health condition or who is 55 or older, including early childhood educators and daycare workers, can get the vaccine.鈥
McMillan said 鈥渘o decisions have been made鈥 on Alberta鈥檚 Phase 3 of the vaccination rollout.
In Quebec, a provincial spokesperson confirmed to CTVNews.ca that ECEs and child care workers are eligible for vaccination in the Montreal area since April 11 and province-wide since April 14.
Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island both have ECEs and child care workers in their Phase 2 rollout, and the northern territories of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut have inoculated most of their populations over the age of 18 willing to get vaccinated.
A provincial spokesperson for B.C. told CTVNews.ca in an email that the province intends to start vaccinating ECEs and child care workers 鈥渋n the coming days鈥 as part of its Phase 3 rollout.
Giesbrecht said that at the beginning of the pandemic the safety protocols implemented at child care centres and daycares were working, but now through either 鈥渧ariants and the relaxing of rules or relaxing of how people are interacting in society,鈥 infections have found their way into child care programs.
