Turkey starts vaccinating teachers against COVID-19

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Minister of National Education Ziya Selçuk was in Turkey's Central Anatolian province of Çorum today (February 24). Attending the teachers' vaccination program, the Minister also received the first dose.

In a previous statement marking the start of the second semester on February 15, Minister Selçuk announced that the lists of teachers, especially those giving face-to-face education, had been sent to the Health Ministry, and their vaccination would start in the last week of this month.

Receiving the first dose of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine himself, Education Minister Selçuk said today that teachers could also be vaccinated against the virus at medical institutions.

According to the statement of the Minister, the Ministry of Health did the necessary planning about the procurement of vaccines for teachers. "We sent the list of our 1 million 259 thousand school employees to them," Ziya Selçuk said, referring to the Health Ministry.

Addressing teachers within this context, Minister Selçuk noted that they could be informed about their turn of vaccination by entering the Health Ministry's "e-nabız" (e-pulse) application or sending an SMS to 2023.

By using this application or sending an SMS, teachers can get an appointment for the first and second doses, the Minister added.

Education Minister Ziya Selçuk also underlined that "since the beginning of the outbreak, all preparations had been made in compliance with the standards set by the Turkish Standards Institute."

"Our schools are ready," he said, adding that "almost all schools had obtained the 'My School is Clean' document", showing that the related school has completed all necessary preparations amid the pandemic.

"We give this document within the framework of certain procedures and we are ready for this. Our other schools will be opened," he noted.

Indicating that several other countries are now reopening all schools, Ziya Selçuk said, "But in no country of the world is it the case that the entire country, therefore all teachers, have been vaccinated."

Village schools reopened in mid-February

After partially reopening schools in late September, Turkey resumed its distance learning education system as of November 20 until January 4.

Remote learning has been continuing through the state broadcaster TRT's Education Information Network (EBA) channels and live courses, while all teachers can carry out live lessons through the EBA.

Amid the increasing number of cases and fatalities, the Ministry announced in December that the face-to-face exams in primary, secondary and high schools scheduled for early January would not be held.

In a statement on January 17, Minister of Education Ziya Selçuk said, "We have made a policy decision on reopening schools as of February 15."

On February 1, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey's schools in villages would begin face-to-face education as of February 15 and the preparations would start to resume in-class education on March 1 for the 8th- and 12th-grade students, primary and special education schools.

Village schools reopened, with some delays due to heavy snowfall across the country, on February 15, 2021.

About COVID-19 vaccination in Turkey

Mass vaccinations began in Turkey on January 14, 2021 after the first batch of 3 million doses of the vaccine developed by China's SinoVac Biotech company arrived in Turkey on December 30, 2020.

According to official ministry figures, Turkey has so far vaccinated more than 7.6 million people, most of them healthcare staff, with the first dose of CoronaVac while the number of people who have so far received the second dose has reached 1.2 million.

Spike in cases amid talks of normalization

Amid ongoing talks about a gradual normalization in Turkey as of March 1, the Health Ministry has reported 9,107 new coronavirus cases in a day, which marks the highest daily cases since January 13, 2021.

The Ministry of Health announced the latest figures on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Turkey yesterday (February 23).

While the daily number of new cases has been announced by the Ministry as 9,107, the number of patients has been announced as 633.

75 people have lost their lives due to COVID-19 in Turkey in the last 24 hours. 5,546 people have recovered. The number of tests conducted in the last 24 hours has been announced as 123,734.

According to the figures announced till today, 32,560,732 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Turkey so far. While the total number of cases is 2,655,633, the death toll has reached 28,213 people. (AÖ/SD)