Calls grow for Ontario daycare workers to be moved up vaccination list

Daycare workers are calling on the Ontario government to move them up in the province’s COVID-19 vaccination priority list.

An open letter to Premier Doug Ford written by the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario asks him to make inoculating daycare staff a priority.

It has more than 11,000 signatures.

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Childcare workers in Halton and Niagara are eligible to book their vaccines now.

Workers in Halton can book an appointment through the region’s online booking tool.

Niagara says its daycare workers will receive booking instructions from their employer.

A survey jointly conducted by the two organizations in March found that 70 per cent of 1,875 respondents wanted to be vaccinated immediately.

The same survey found that 43 per cent of respondents have considered leaving the daycare sector since the pandemic began.