After we complete the teachers' vaccination, our next focus is to accelerate vaccination for pupils above 12 years of age and for university studentsJakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs Muhadjir Effendy has urged schools to reopen for face-to-face offline school activities if vaccination coverage among teachers has reached 100 percent.
"If the teachers' vaccination coverage has reached 100 percent, then the schools should reopen for offline activities. If we wait to complete vaccination for pupils, then when would the schools reopen," Effendy noted in a written statement here, Thursday.
The government has currently striven to expedite vaccinations for teachers, lecturers, and school administrators to prepare offline school activities, especially in regions where the activities restriction enforcement (PPKM) status had been lowered to level 3 or 2, he noted.
Effendy cited the Health Ministry's Data and Information Centre report that found only 62 percent -- or 3.42 million -- of the teachers had received their vaccine doses as of Sept 13, 2021, with 39 percent of the figure having received their second vaccine dose.
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The current vaccination coverage for teachers necessitated collaboration among relevant ministries and institutions to accelerate vaccination efforts for the group, the coordinating minister emphasized.
Effendy targeted complete vaccination coverage in the teachers' groups to be achieved in September 2021 to expedite the reopening of schools nationwide for face-to-face offline school activities.
Upon completion of the teachers' vaccination, the authority will intensify inoculation for the pupils' group in tandem with the national vaccine dosage availability, Effendy stated.
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"After we complete the teachers' vaccination, our next focus is to accelerate vaccination for pupils above 12 years of age and for university students," Effendy remarked.
The minister also urged school administrators to complete the checklist to review the readiness of schools for offline activities. The checklist should then be reported to the local COVID-19 task force for consideration to finalize the offline school activities scheme in the region.
"The offline school eligibility assessment should conclude by the end of September 2021, the same time as we aimed to complete the teachers' vaccination," Effendy noted.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
