The announcement comes as tens of thousands of students across the state prepare to return to school after a summer dominated by Omicron case surges. The Department of Education has set March 15 as the deadline for staff to have all three Covid vaccine doses or be banned from on-site work at schools.However, the March cut-off will only apply to staff who received their second dose after October 25, 2021. Those double jabbed before the date will need to receive a booster by February 25. Staff who refuse to be fully vaccinated will be placed on leave and will eventually be terminated if they remain so by April 28.Premier Daniel Andrews has already announced plans to deploy an army of retired teachers on the workforce if and when staff become infected with Covid. Victoria’s testing chief Jeroen Weimar confirmed how teachers could be substituted to avoid “last resort” remote learning.“I know there’s been a general call-out to encourage a standby workforce in the education sector,” he said.“We’re very keen to ensure children can have as normal of an education experience compared to the challenges of the past two years.“Part of that will be ensuring teacher workforces and staff are able to work as much as possible and there are backups in place in the event people get sick.”The vast majority of primary school students will not be double dosed by the time the school year begins, sparking fears of another rise in Covid cases.
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