OKEHAMPTON College is to host NHS vaccinations for 12 to 15 year olds on Tuesday in a bid to protect children from covid amid concerns about the number of cases at the college.

Associate principal Craig Griffiths said: ’The college has worked hard to secure a date from the NHS to host immunisations for students who wish to be vaccinated against covid, and have now been able to confirm this date with families.’

He was speaking as the NHS opened an online bookings for 12-15 year olds to get vaccinated at four centres countywide from the start of half term this week.

Meanwhile, one mother said she had withdrawn her 16-year-old son from school because of fears that he would catch the infection and that he had told her that ’all his friends have covid’.

The mother of the boy in Year 11 said she was speaking out because a number of parents were concerned.

’My son is off school, he is shielding because he is vulnerable, he has had pneumonia and every time he gets a cold it goes to his chest. He’s told me that most of his friends are off with covid. Out of six or seven, there are about five that have got covid and they are all quite ill with it. The last report we have had back from the college is that one in ten have got covid. I think it is astounding that the college hasn’t been shut down.’

She added: ’It is rife in the college. The last email we had said there were over 100 postive cases. It is going to be affecting the community as well, if your children are coming home with it they are going to passing it on to other parts of the town. I think it is crazy.’

Meanwhile, parent Nicky Hutchinson, from Hatherleigh, said her 11 and a half year old son was off school because he was frightened of catching covid and passing it to her; she has had cancer treatment which has left her with compromised immunity.

She queried why college students were not keeping face masks on in classrooms.

’We have a very good relationship with the college and and they are working so hard but my son said to me "how does it make a difference if a student wears a mask in the corridor and then they go into a classroom and take it off?"

’He knows there are children in school whose parents don’t believe in doing the testing, and it only takes a small percentage of children not to be doing it for it to become an issue. I know one of my son’s friends is off with covid and a couple of teachers he would have had contact with are off with Covid. We are in a situation where cases are still going up and now Devon has a higher number of cases than the national average.

’My son is 11 and a half and he is in secondary school but he won’t be able to get vaccinated until next May. He doesn’t want me to get it and he doesn’t want people in Hatherleigh to get it. There is a huge media campaign about vaccinating 12 year olds, but what about the 11 year olds?’

Mr Griffiths from the college said the college were being ’proactive’ with a staff-run system of identifying all close contacts of those testing postive.

’At Okehampton College, the health and safety of our staff and students is our top priority, and we have worked hard to ensure this over the past 18 months,’ he said. ’We fully appreciate that with the rise in cases nationally, there is some concern among parents and the wider community about how this may impact college life, but we would like to reassure you that the college is continuing to use robust health and safety measures to minimise the chance of transmission and infection.

’This includes measures above and beyond those which have been recommended by the Government, such as the continued use of face masks in communal areas and a staff-run system of contact tracing to identify close contacts. Due to this proactive approach, the number of symptomatic cases occurring in the college has fallen, something which is a positive sign for the overall health and safety of the college.

’More so, those who have been forced to self-isolate have continued to receive high-quality online education, while the school has also delivered food hampers to isolating students who are eligible for Free School Meals.

’We remain in close and constant contact with the local public health and political authorities, as well as central government officials, and we have been commended for our proactive and diligent approach.

’We will continue to work closely with our community partners.

’Additionally, the college has worked hard to secure a date from the NHS to host immunisations for students who wish to be vaccinated against covid, and have now been able to confirm this date with families.

’We fully appreciate that some parents and carers are worried about the rise in cases we are seeing regionally, but we would like to assure you that we remain diligent and proactive in our work to ensure the continued operation of the college, and the health and safety of our entire community.

’We thank our local community for continuing to work hard together to tackle the challenges of Covid-19. ’