Teachers should be among the first group in Scotland to be offered a vaccine for Covid-19, a parents campaign group has said.
There are reports that jabs may be available before Christmas for those including health and care workers.
UsForThem Scotland said including teachers in the group of key workers to be vaccinated early would help keep schools open and ease fears about safety.
The group was set up to press for the full-time reopening of schools in August when it was still proposed that pupils would attend part-time.
Organiser Jo Bisset said: “Keeping schools open is absolutely vital not just for the education of pupils, but for their mental wellbeing too.
“The best way for that to happen is with Scotland’s teaching community feeling safe when they enter their work each day.
“So, if and when a safe vaccination is ready for an initial group of people, we’d like to see teachers to be among the first to be offered it.
“They are every bit as vital as healthcare workers as Scotland battles Covid-19 and lockdown restrictions continue.
They are every bit as vital as healthcare workers as Scotland battles Covid-19 and lockdown restrictions continue.”
Jo Bisset, UsForThem Scotland
“Children suffered so badly during the first lockdown and blended learning proved to be a complete shambles, especially for the most disadvantaged children.
“We can’t afford a repeat of that, so when priority groups are being chosen for initial rounds of a safe and effective vaccine, teachers should absolutely be in that discussion.”
NHS bosses are understood to be aiming for a mass vaccination in around six weeks’ time.
A leaked email from NHS Lothian director David Small said timescales were uncertain but “we are working to an assumption that a vaccine will be available from mid-December 2020”.