As Surrey teacher battles COVID-19 in ICU, union calls for vaccine priority

VANCOUVER -- For the second time this school year, an elementary school teacher in Surrey, B.C., who contracted COVID-19 has been admitted to the ICU.

That has other teachers in the city concerned about returning to the classroom after spring break.

“I’m terrified, I really am terrified,” said Lizanne Foster, who teaches English at Queen Elizabeth Secondary.

Foster noted there have already been two cases at her school involving COVID-19 variants of concern, including in her own classroom.

“I don’t know how to convey to people in the rest of the province who are not in the COVID hot zone what sheer terror it is every single day to know this unseen thing is floating around in the air that you breathe," she said.

Surrey Teachers Association vice president Julia MacRae said it’s a common feeling among members in the province’s biggest school district.

While she couldn't reveal any details about the teacher in the ICU, MacRae said "of course" the association is upset by the case.

“And we hope for the best for that person,” MacRae said. “We wish we could send more than our thoughts and prayers, we wish what we had was a safer situation for teachers in Surrey.”

Earlier in the school year, a Surrey elementary teacher who contracted COVID-19 also ended up in the ICU. In November, 55-year-old Cambridge Elementary music teacher Darlene Lourenco was hospitalized for two weeks, half of that spent in intensive care, and believes she caught the virus at school.

“Of all the teachers in the province, there have been two Surrey teachers who are in ICU,” said Foster. “So clearly, we are in the middle of the hot zone.”

That has the Surrey Teachers Association asking that its members be prioritized for front-line worker vaccination, ahead of other school districts with fewer cases.

“If the government looks at where the community positively rate is highest and goes to the schools in those areas first, Surrey would top that list. We would be first because the positively rate is high,” said Foster.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry hinted that will happen. “Yes, we will be prioritizing. As you know, we don’t have enough vaccine to do everybody in the school system right now, so we will be prioritizing by where the risk is greater,” she said.

For Surrey teachers worried about returning after spring break, vaccination can’t start soon enough.

“I hope we can hear that news and can start getting vaccinated this week,” said MacRae. “No one went anywhere for spring break. We’re available to be vaccinated.”