Government is still concerned with the low rates at which teachers and non-teaching staff are responding to COVID-19 vaccination.
Recently, the Minister of Education, First Lady Janet Museveni revealed that government will consider reopening schools only after all teaching and non-teaching staff including students in tertiary institutions have been vaccinated.
However, according to Henry Mwebesa, the Director General Health Services, less than half of the targeted teaching and non-teaching staff have so far received the jabs.
“To date, only about 237,930 (43.3%) have been vaccinated across the country and a mere 88,825 (16%) have received their second dose out of a target of about 550,000. This is still very low to allow for safe re-opening of schools,” Dr. Mwebesa said.
Mwebesa in his letter addressed to RDCs in the country, has reminded the district leaders to prioritize the vaccination of teaching and non-teaching staff including students above 18years of age. He urged the District taskforce to utilize the district structures to mobilize all teachers, non-teaching staff, support staff and students to go for COVID-19 vaccination as a matter of urgency.
“Going forward, all students above 18years should be prioritized and vaccinated as a precondition to going back to school,” he said. He further called upon district health teams and implementing partners to plan and conduct targeted outreaches for the teachers and non-teaching staff in the most convenient and accessible places before end of September 2021.
