Early childhood educators, daycare operators advocate for vaccine priority in line with Sask. teachers

The eight educators who work at Bati McComas's Alerces Spanish Preschool and Kindergarten are anxiously waiting to get COVID-19 vaccinations.

"It's very challenging for our work because we're exposed to a lot of people," said McComas, the school's owner and education director. "I think we should have been included in the group that is vulnerable." 

Alerces welcomed children back to the building last June. Its 40 spots were filled by the fall, and they're already pre-booked for fall of this year. While McComas says that's good news and they're happy to have the children back, her staff are always on edge because of the risk of COVID-19.

Child care is important and having kids at home can increase stress on both children and parents, McComas said. The government has helped financially, but McComas also thinks early childhood educators should be prioritized for vaccination along with teachers — who will become eligible in the coming week, the province has said.

The need is there for early childhood educators, McComas said, because the nature of their work means they're constantly in very close contact with children.

"We have been working non-stop, offering a service that is required by our community," she said. "And those services … help the city to keep on going."

The executive director of the Saskatchewan Early Childhood Association has also been advocating to get child-care workers vaccinated.

Georgia Lavallee wrote to the provincial ministers of health and education, urging the government to revisit the prioritization list. 

They are in more close contact than a classroom teacher is.- Mackenzie Sawchyn

"Early childhood educators have been on the front line caring and educating children so families work since the beginning of the pandemic," Lavallee said in her letter.

"Since early childhood educators are essential to children, families, and the economy it is essential to protect them by including them in the vaccination priority."

Mackenzie Sawchyn, a teacher in Regina and vice-president of the board of Cathedral Cooperative Daycare, said she was glad to see the province finally include teachers in the vaccination plan.

But not including early childhood educators isn't fair, she says.

"Our early childhood educators work in close contact with children. That is the nature of their job. And so they are in more close contact than a classroom teacher is," Sawchyn said. "And a lot of them are even assisting in things like toileting and personal hygiene."

At her daycare, children as young as four wear masks to be safe, but the centre cares for children as young as 18 months old, who can't wear masks effectively. 

"In terms of the city … [early child-care educators are] the most at risk right now for the [coronavirus] variants that are going on, which is a huge concern for us."

The educators are putting themselves at risk every day and it wears on them, Sawchyn said. She also says Premier Scott Moe has talked about keeping the economy going, without acknowledging that daycare and early childhood educators are a large part of keeping people at work.

"So if we want people to get back to work and sort of normalize things, we have to be taking care of the ones that are really taking care of kids."