But others say the decision is a matter for health officials.

Australia's education unions have called on the government to put education workers in a priority category for immunisation, saying they were on the frontline.

Teachers are not named among the groups of "critical and high risk workers", one of the priority groups eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.

Anyone over 40 in Australia is currently eligible for the immunisation.

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Some Bendigo teachers said they believed teachers under 40 should be included among priority groups, while others said the decision was a matter for health officials.

During Victoria's COVID-19 outbreaks much teaching has taken place online, but schools have remained open for the children of essential workers.

Maiden Gully Primary principal Craig Arrowsmith said COVID-19 vaccination for teachers might reduce the risk of community transmission, as they had been required to attend work to look after the children of essential workers.

Mr Arrowsmith said it was frustrating to hear about teachers being unable to access vaccination. He said staff members at Maiden Gully had been turned away

But Mr Arrowsmith said keeping current COVID-19 safe practices would also go a long way towards keeping people safe.

He said the whole community had to make responsible choices while living through the pandemic, as well as receiving vaccines.

Weeroona College principal Brad Madden said making education workers eligible for vaccines would probably be a good way to go about keeping schools open during lockdowns.

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Mr Madden said the majority of his staff were eligible for vaccination, the younger ones wouldn't be.

He said vaccinations hadn't been an issue for those on site during lockdowns to date, but in those times students were wearing masks and physically distanced.

Bendigo Senior Secondary College principal Dale Pearce said it was a decision for health authorities as to whether school staff should be vaccinated ahead of other groups.

But Mr Pearce said he had been encouraging all eligible staff to get vaccinated at the earliest opportunity.

Mr Pearce said about half of the staff at BSSC were eligible for vaccination, at a guess. He said his sense was there had been a very strong uptake of immunisation in that group, but he didn't have figures.

Mr Pearce said he hadn't heard any comments, feedback or concerns from school staff that would lead him to think they needed to be prioritised.

Australian Education Union federal president Correna Haythorpe said the Delta variant posed serious risks to the health of students, and the education workforce.

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