The vaccination of its teachers and other non-teaching personnel will play a very crucial role in the reopening of schools, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.
“We would like to encourage all of our personnel to coordinate with their local government units so they can be vaccinated against COVID-19 ,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said in a statement issued Thursday, April 22.
“This will play a huge role in our bid for our learners’ return to school,” Briones added.
Given this, DepEd said that its eligible personnel - especially those who belong to higher priority groups - are urged to get vaccinated against COVID-19 already in their respective local government units (LGU) of residence or LGU of place of work, if applicable.
DepEd said that its eligible personnel can now participate in the government’s inoculation program with the go-signal for vaccination of basic education frontliners. This after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) approved the appeal of Briones to “adjust” the vaccine prioritization for teaching and non-teaching personnel from category B1 to A4.
In the issuance released by the DepEd Task Force COVID-19 (DTFC), the DepEd also reminded all of its personnel who are part of higher priority groups - such as school health staff, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities, that they can register already for vaccine shots ahead of the roll-out for the A4 priority category.
DepEd, the largest government agency, hopes to start vaccinating the rest of its teaching and non-teaching personnel by June 2021.
The A4 group is next in line in the government vaccination priority list, after A1 (medical frontliners), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (with comorbidities).
"Napakalaking jump nito para sa mga teachers, magandang magandang balita para sa lahat. Matagal na namin itong kinakausap at kinakampanya para masama ang teachers sa mauna na mababakunahan sa A-list at galing sa B (It's a huge jump for teachers, it’s a very good news for everyone. We've been talking about it for a long time and campaigning for teachers to be vaccinated on the A-list and from the B),”Briones said.
While it strongly encourages teaching and non-teaching staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19, DepEd maintained that “vaccination remains to be the personal and voluntary decision of every personnel.”
Early this month, a teachers’ group urged the government to adjust the prioritization of teachers in its vaccination program citing their “crucial role in delivering the essential service” - that is education.
In March, over 30 organizations also underscored the importance of vaccinating teachers – including teaching support staff – against COVID-19 to ensure the safe reopening of schools and resumption of face-to-face classes.