Education Minister, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, is not satisfied with the rate of vaccination among the 12-18 year old school population.
Speaking during the commissioning ceremony for the Siparia Union Presbyterian Primary School on Friday, Gadsby-Dolly confirmed that only 20 per cent of the children eligible to take the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine has received the shot.
She said, “We would have hoped that it would continue and even increase from where it started. We were at 3,500 (vaccinations) a day at the start and I think we’re down to maybe 1,500 or less than that now. So, no, we are not satisfied and take this time to urge the parents to carry your children out.”
With schools set to reopen virtually for all pupils on September 6, the minister said she is hoping for some aspect of physical opening before the year ends but was unable to give a definitive response.
She said, “Whether some physical (school) gets into the mix really depends on us and how we react to this plea to get yourself vaccinated.”
Gadsby-Dolly noted that the Prime Minister has stated “that it would be comforting for us to reach our herd immunity level which is generally around 65 to 75 per cent, that would give a level of comfort. However, in terms of whether that means bringing out the vaccinated, the unvaccinated, those kinds of decisions have not yet been taken. We are not there.”
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has pleaded with parents to get their children vaccinated against Covid-19 after two more cases of the Delta variant were earlier confirmed, taking the figure to five.
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