Vaccine is required for resumption of safe returns to school: Major Clarke

With just around half of the eligible schools, the population having been vaccinated, considerable efforts are being made to improve those numbers to resume face-to-face classes significantly.

Vaccine is required for resumption of safe returns to school: Major Clarke

Barbados: With just around half of the eligible schools, the population having been vaccinated, considerable efforts are being made to improve those numbers to resume face-to-face classes significantly.

These were the words of Major David Clarke, the National Vaccination Program’s coordinator, further adding that the current level is insufficient to consider permitting children to return to schools.

On Tuesday, his remarks came just four days after the Ministry of Education made the decision to initiate online classes from the following Monday when the new school term began. Earlier, the Ministry was looking at the date for the resumption of face-to-face classes.

According to a statement released by Ministry on last Friday, “the decision was made after the Omicron-new variant of COVID-19 was traced here, resulting in a spike of coronavirus cases.

However, it has encouraged principals, staff, students and parents to prepare for the possible phased return of face-to-face classes on January 24.

According to the reports, Major Clarke has revealed about the figures that only around 10,500 people of the eligible 21,000 students had come forward to get themselves vaccinated against the contagious virus.

He further emphasized on the need to get vaccinated and encouraged students that, “for a safe return to schools, that figure had to increase exponentially.”

He added, “We definitely want to the children to get themselves vaccinated against the virus so that they can freely get back to the schools to resume their academics, so the only motive from now is to try and get as many as young people to get vaccinated- mainly from the 11 to 18s of age.”

“We are currently standing at 50% of the eligible school population, which is around 21,000, and we really need to get the other half of those young people vaccinated so the young people can get back to the face-to-face school,” Major Clarke said.