As the country’s vaccination program nears, the Department of Education (DepEd) asserted that teachers would not be allowed to administer Covid-19 vaccines.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Tuesday said that only trained medical personnel should administer vaccines and not unqualified teachers.
“Dini-deny namin iyong perception na ang mga teachers ay sila mismo ang mag-vaccinate ng ating mga kabataan or your fellow teachers dahil may Covid o wala, anong klaseng sakit o wala, very strict ang protocol sa medicine na kung hindi ka trained medical personnel, hindi ka naman talagang isasabak sa mga medical procedures,” she said in a Laging Handa briefing.
“At ang Department of Health (DOH) ay walang sinasabing ganiyan, na ang teachers ay mismong magba-vaccinate sila dahil hindi naman sila qualified diyan; ang training nila ay pagtuturo. So we have to clarify that dahil krimen iyan, kung hindi ka trained medical personnel and you engage in medical procedures, hindi iyan. DOH has never, never said that. We have never, never said that as well,” she added.
Briones said the only part teachers will play in the vaccine rollout would be to “disseminate information on vaccines.”
“But even for that, kailangan silang i-brief nang husto, nang maayos ng malaman nila talaga kung ano benefits o ang protection na maibigay ng vaccine sa mga teachers. So more on the educational aspect; wala sa pag-participate in medical procedures,” she added.
Teachers are included in the priority list for the country’s vaccine program. They are set to receive vaccines after frontline health workers. John Ezekiel J. Hirro