Teachers should be vaccinated on priority, WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF stated that Teachers and other school members should be among the groups selected for Covid inoculations so that schools in Europe and Central Asia can remain open for the entire year.

WHO wants to take procedures to confirm that schools can stay open throughout the pandemic.

The UN agencies wrote in a statement that “include offering teachers and other school staff the Covid-19 vaccine as part of target population groups in national vaccination plans”.

The statement further stated that the commendation has already been made by WHO experts in November 2020 before the inoculation begin, it should be done “while ensuring vaccination of vulnerable populations”.

Whereas the schools are reopening after the summer vacations, the agencies stated that it was “vital that classroom-based learning continue uninterrupted,” due to the spread of the extremely contagious Delta variant of the virus.

The director of the WHO European region, Hans Kluge, said in the statement “This is of paramount importance for children’s education, mental health, and social skills, for schools to help equip our children to be happy and productive members of society”.

“The pandemic has caused the most catastrophic disruption to education in history,” he added.

The agencies have insisted all the countries inoculate children over the age of 12 who have fundamental medical situations, that the pandemic put them at increased risk of catching severe Covid-19 disease.

It is also important to take proper methods to recover the school environment during the pandemic, including adding features like a better ventilation system, smaller class sizes, social distancing, and regular Covid testing for children and staff.

According to the WHO’s references published in early July, children being tested in the risk groups who display Covid-19 symptoms should be a priority.