The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed that all teachers and school personnel involved in the pilot run of face-to-face classes must receive the vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Department of Education (DepEd) Planning Service Director Roger Masapol also added that teachers must be fully vaccinated and should be under 65 years old with no record of any comorbidities.
“We agreed [that] all school personnel, teachers should be fully vaccinated when they participate in the pilot face-to-face,” he said during a joint DepEd and DOH session.
The DepEd earlied said that teachers need not get vaccinated before conducting classes. This immediately drew immense backlash from lawmakers, parents, and the general public.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire supported the call to have teachers vaccinated before conducting face-to-face classes saying that child health experts have also recommended the Covid-19 vaccination for teachers under the A4 priority. This is to ensure the safety of the students since minors are not yet allowed to receive Covid-19 vaccines.
Ninety five elementary public schools (Kindergarten to Grade 3), five public senior high schools, and 20 private schools will participate in the pilot implementation. However, the list of schools has yet to be released.
The DepEd stressed that participation of students to the pilot implementation must be voluntary, supported by a signed consent from their parents.
From Kinder to Grade 3, only one teacher will be assigned to control the exposure of kids. Ronald Espartinez