Local school governors have called on politicians to push for the vaccination of teachers.
As schools in Newtown prepare to welcome back some pupils on 22 February, the Governors Consultative Committee, who represent all Powys schools' governing bodies, has written to Craig Williams MP for Montgomeryshire and others to urge them to push for Covid-19 vaccinations for teachers.
The call also comes as coronavirus rates continue to rise more in the area while rates elsewhere in Wales have fallen. Health chiefs have said the majority of Covid-19 cases have been the 'Kent' variant.
Susan Hill, Chair of the GCC Powys, said: "There are good reasons to consider vaccinating teachers, teaching assistants and nursery workers. They are not the only group of front-line key-workers who need to be vaccinated to keep them safe and carry out their essential functions, but these groups will have their own spokespersons and lobbyists.
"Many of our teachers work with children who are not able to reliably maintain social distancing, whether that is because they are too young, or they have additional learning needs."
Susan added: "It is in the interests of getting the economy moving, and keeping as many jobs as we can, to open up more schools safely. We would argue strongly that vaccinating teaching staff is key to achieving this and to maintaining it.
"In summary we would like the priority lists to include teachers, teaching assistants and pre-school workers. If they could be allowed to at least register for reserve slots so that vaccine does not go to waste through non-attendance this would be a start and would not take away from existing priority groups. Please consider the benefits of doing so."
