Calls are being made for education workers to be vaccinated before the end of the February half-term.

The calls from teaching union, NASUWT, come following an announcement by First Minister Mark Drakeford that the Welsh Government is aiming to bring primary school children back into the classroom from 22 February if coronavirus cases continue to fall at their current rate.

Neil Butler, NASUWT National Official Wales, said in response to the news: “We understand why the Welsh Government wants to prioritise the return of the youngest children to the classroom, but given the difficulty in ensuring social distancing with these children it is time for the Welsh Government to look at vaccinating those education workers who will be expected to work in these settings before the end of February half-term.”

When asked how Ceredigion will implement any changes, a council spokesperson said: "Welsh Government will share more information next week, including the scientific advice of the Technical Advisory Cell."

The First Minister confirmed today the alert level four lockdown restrictions will remain in place in Wales for the next three weeks, following a review of the measures.

He will also provide more details of a £200 million package to top up support for businesses.

Rates of coronavirus across Wales have fallen below 200 cases per 100,000 people for the first time since early November.

The return to primary school will be planned in a phased and flexible way from 22 February, if the public health situation continues to improve. Students studying vocational qualifications will also be among those prioritised for the phased return to colleges.

Mr Drakeford said: “We are making steady progress in bringing coronavirus under control once again. Every day, the vaccination programme is speeding up as more people are vaccinated and more clinics open. Each vaccine is another small victory against the virus.

“We’ve seen a really welcome fall in cases of the virus all over Wales, but they are still too high and the NHS continues to be under intense pressure.

“We need to keep the lockdown restrictions in place for a little while longer to help us bring rates of the virus down further. If we can do this, we will create the headroom we need to get children back to school after half-term – starting with the youngest at primary schools

“We will work with teachers, colleges, local authorities to plan for the safe return of children to school over the next couple of weeks and keep parents updated.”

Two small changes will be made to the current alert level four restrictions:

• A maximum of two people from different households will be able to exercise outdoors together, as long as they maintain social distancing. This must involve exercise starting from and finishing from home – driving for exercise to beauty spots should still not take place.

• If a support bubble arrangement has broken down, a new one can be formed as long as there is gap of 10 days before doing so.

These changes will come into effect on Saturday, 30 January.

The First Minister added: “I hope these two very small and cautious steps will be the first towards a time when we can all live with fewer restrictions on our lives and without fear of this terrible virus.”

The further £200m support for non-essential retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses will help firms with operational costs and brings the package of business support provided through the Economic Resilience Fund since December to £650m.

Businesses with a rateable value of up to £500,000 will receive support payments of between £3,000 and £5,000.

Economy minister Ken Skates will provide further details later today.

In alert level four lockdown, everyone must:

• Stay at home.

• Work from home if they can.

• Keep a two-metre distance from others.

• Wear a face covering in all indoor public places.

• Not meet anyone not in your immediate household or support bubble.