Many teachers still not vaccinated, PM admits
Even as 39,000 students are vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of the anticipated physical return to school by Forms Four to Six students who’ve taken the jab, many teachers are still unvaccinated.
Responding to questions at a media conference today, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley admitted that there are no figures on how many teachers have been vaccinated because they haven’t “counted heads”.
He said Government’s focus is on getting students back to school, as concerns have been raised on learning loss in the absence of physical classes for over a year for most students.
The Prime Minister said Government won’t waste valuable teaching time “fighting over vaccine enforcement for teachers”.
He explained that even if teachers are unvaccinated because students have been inoculated, they will have protection from the risk of virus spread.
He said vaccine uptake isn’t at the level that Government would have liked, but students will be heading back out to school and interacting with a “heavily vaccinated” population.
Dr Rowley, however, appealed to teachers to think about the safety of others when it comes to vaccination.
The Prime Minister said the country currently has sufficient vaccines in stock to achieve herd immunity.
As of 4pm today, 564,315 people received a first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine and 473,097 completed their vaccination regime.
Both students and teachers returning to physical classes on October 4 will be required to adhere to mask-wearing protocols.
Darlisa Ghouralal