Governments acknowledge that in the early weeks of the school year, there will be an increase in community transmission of the highly infectious Omicron variant. We need to do everything we can to contain its spread.

Our biggest risk remains the low vaccination rate for under 12s – about 37.5 per cent in Victoria and 33.5 per cent in NSW as of Friday.

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It’s true that young people are less vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19. Nonetheless, they can transmit the virus, posing real dangers for teachers, other staff and parents.

So there is a strong case for more simple and clear public health messaging from governments about the urgent need for children to be vaccinated.

Schools would also do well to inform parents about the importance of vaccination and proper use of RAT kits.

Ultimately, however, responsibility for vaccinating kids falls to parents, who need to act with haste so that students and teachers can go to school and concentrate on teaching, learning, creating and playing.

That includes parents doing whatever they can to get their children vaccinated and getting their own booster shots. They should explain to their children the importance of wearing masks properly and resist the temptation of sending children to school with symptoms, however mild.

Parents need to reflect on the difficulties and frustrations of remote learning over the past two years. In their own and the wider community interest, they need to ensure their kids are vaccinated.

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