Malaysia says it will vaccinate teachers as part of its second phase of COVID jabs, which started earlier forthe elderly and those deemed high risk due to other medical conditions.
Announcing the revised plan, the Deputy Education Minister, Mah Hang Soon said thesafety of teachers and students remains the ministrys top priority, according to local media reports on Friday.
The first vaccination phase started two months ago and saw health-care workers and security forces personnel vaccinated.
The decision to vaccinate teachers comes amid a spike in coronavirus case numbers.
The Health Ministry on Friday reported almost 3,800 new cases,the third consecutive day the number topped 3,000.
Schools remain mostlyopen, though several outbreaks have been reported among students, leading to some temporary closures and a state-wide shutdown in Kelantan, a northern region.
Schools were closed across the country during Malaysias pandemic lockdowns, the first of which ran from March to May 2020 and the second imposed for about a month from mid-January.
The governmentsaid in February it would not lock down for a third time, citing concerns about likely economic losses after the first shutdown in 2020 which led to a 17 per cent quarterly contraction. (dpa/NAN)
Source: NAN News