Teachers aged 50 years and above will be the first to get COVID-19 vaccine, govt says

Teachers aged 50 years and above will be the first to get COVID-19 vaccine, govt says

Teachers who are 50 years and above will be the first to be vaccinated both in public and privates schools, the government has said.

According to Dr. Willis Akhwale, the COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Taskforce Chairman, teachers are at risk because of the nature of their profession.

“575,000 posts have been identified to support the vaccination process. It is important for teachers to work with health authorities in counties to identify teachers above 50 years, he said during the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine for teachers on Thursday.

Dr. Akhwale said teachers will need to have identification documents and a Teachers Service Commission (TSC) number to register.

He further noted that the Chanjo Kenya platform is being configured to allow pre -registration which is expected to help manage crowds.

The task-force chairman advised that those with severe allergies should discuss with health officers before seeking to be vaccinated.

“We are in the 3rd wave and we must maintain our standard procedures to avoid COVID-19,” he said.

Health workers; teachers and non-teaching staff in educational institutions; uniformed forces (police, military and prisons officers); immigration officers and instructors in religious institutions are to be inoculated in Phase 1 of the exercise which began on March 5.

Dr. Akhwale said persons excluded from the vaccination exercise are those with fever of 38 degrees and above; pregnant women and children.

TSC Chief Executive Nancy Macharia, who had accompanied Dr. Akhwale for the launch, revealed that 41 teachers and three secretariat staff have since died from COVID-19 complications.

According to Dr. Macharia, there are 330671 public school teachers and 158,000 in the private teaching sector.

“We have 15,000 teachers who are aged above 58 and above and they will be the first to benefit. We will work on the data for those above 50 yes and above and forward to the Ministry of Health,” she said.

“We are requesting that 227, 679 teachers who will be invigilating exams be vaccinated too even though some are not among the prioritised group,” she urged Dr. Akhwale.

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