JUST over 63 per cent of teachers in Guyana have received their COVID-19 vaccinations, while approximately 30 per cent of the students eligible for vaccination have been inoculated.

This information was provided by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, during a press conference held on Friday at the National Centre for Educational Research and Development (NCERD).

Minister Manickchand noted that through several measures implemented by the ministry, there has been an encouraging increase in the number of inoculated teachers in the system.

“We actively tried to get each teacher what they needed. We saw movement from 30 per cent of our teachers being vaccinated to just over 63 per cent getting vaccinated at last count,” she explained.

She noted that it is important for the teachers, as well as students, to be vaccinated. With the students, however, the vaccination rate has been lower than with the teachers.

“In the schools, somewhere around 30 per cent of the students who should be vaccinated are vaccinated,” the minister said.

Overall, approximately 34 per cent of persons aged 12 – 18 years in Guyana have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and approximately 28 per cent are fully vaccinated. These numbers include persons who are not in school.

The two-dose Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is currently available to persons 12 years and older. However, the minister noted that the vaccine will soon be made available to learners from 5 – 11 years, given that clearance has been given for this by the US Food and Drug Administration(FDA).

Manickchand noted that the ministry is hoping for schools to return to normal as soon as possible, given the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic, and resulting school closures, have had on the education system.

She pointed out that vaccination is a big factor for schools to be able to return to full normalcy, thereby enabling all students to return to the classrooms. Presently, at the nursery and primary school levels, learners are attending school on a rotation basis, while at the secondary school level only Grades 10, 11 and 12 students are attending face-to-face classes.

“The entire system is disrupted. We can only get back into schools if we get everybody vaccinated, students and teachers alike. So, we don’t have a choice. As a country, we have to insist that we return to normalcy. If a particular percentage is vaccinated, 85 percent or so, we would’ve achieved herd immunity and we can carry on normally,” Manickchand explained.

The minister noted that most recently she wrote letters to the teachers imploring them to get fully vaccinated and detailing why it is important, not only for them, but also for the proper functioning of schools and the nation.

“Getting vaccinated is not a bureaucratic issue anymore. It’s not about whether we are following a law or just laying down an edict. It’s now a matter of children’s safety and children’s education. We need to get everyone back into school,” Manickchand noted.

Persons aged 18 years and older must be fully vaccinated before they could be allowed entry into public buildings.

Manickchand reminded that Guyana is not the only country putting measures in place to protect against the COVID-19 virus.

“This is not a Guyana position. Teachers are going to be unable to travel, access higher learning. The world is moving to a place where you will be left behind if you are not vaccinated and a lot of doors will be closed to you. That is a personal decision, but it cannot stop us from doing what we have to [do] both ethically and morally,” she noted.