High-risk teachers may be included in Phase 1 of vaccination programme

The education ministry will give priority to teachers in the high-risk group for the Covid-19 vaccine if the request for them to be included in the first phase of the vaccination programme starting Wednesday is approved.

Deputy Education Minister 1 Muslimin Yahaya said the ministry is holding discussions with the science, technology and innovation ministry for teachers to be given the vaccine in the first phase of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, seeing that schools will be opening next month.

“If the request is approved, the ministry will give priority to high-risk teachers to get the vaccine,” he told reporters after conducting a survey on the first day of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination at SMK Yoke Kuan in Sekinchan today.

Earlier, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said they had received many applications from groups including educators who wanted to be among the first-phase recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine.

He said the application was reasonable as schools would reopen in March.

However Khairy, who is also the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, said they are also facing constraints as the supply of vaccines for the first phase is only about one million doses of which a partial amount has been earmarked for some 500,000 medical and non-medical frontliners.

He requested that the education ministry provide a list of high-risk teachers so that they can receive the vaccine before schools reopen in March.