* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)
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Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer has shared the recent figures about the COVID-19 vaccination of teachers in Turkey.
The Minister attended the Education Assembly of Turkey Meeting of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TMMOB).
Özer has indicated that the rate of COVID-19 vaccination among teachers is higher than that of the general population. According to the Minister, "the biggest advantage of in-class education is easy access to vaccination."
As reported by BBC Türkçe, as of today (October 26), the rate of teachers who have been vaccinated with the first dose is 93 percent while the rate of those who have received both doses is 87 percent. According to the Minister's statement, the rate of the teachers who recovered from the disease and now have antibodies against the virus is 5 percent.
All in all, the total rate of the teachers who have either received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or have antibodies because they recovered from the disease is 92 percent, the Minister has announced.
Minister Mahmut Özer has indicated that "this rate is much higher than than the Turkey average and it is also much higher than the vaccination rates of teachers in countries such as Sweden, Finland and Germany, which offer in-class education five days a week."
The vaccination rate is the highest among primary school teachers (class teachers), according to Özer's statement. While 95 percent of them have been vaccinated with the first dose, 91 percent have received both doses.
Vaccination of teachers across the worldUNESCO and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 are collecting information on teacher prioritization within national COVID-19 vaccine deployment. Globally, 72 percent of countries (146 of 204) have included teachers in one of several priority groups to be vaccinated in national vaccine rollout plans. Teachers were allocated to the first priority group with frontline workers in just 19 or about 10 percent of countries. Teachers were not allocated to any priority group in 29 percent of countries (59 of 204) meaning they are to be vaccinated according to other national criteria (e.g. age, health status, other). This includes countries from all regions; however, it is also the case for almost 1 out of 2 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. High-income countries that prioritised teachers tend to also have high proportions of vaccinated teachers, including 100 percent in Chile and in Portugal, 95 percent in Qatar and 90 percent in the United Arab Emirates. Various middle and low-income countries that allocated teachers to the first priority group, have also vaccinated more than 90 percent of primary and secondary teachers, including 99% in Morocco, 95% in Cambodia and 80% in Mauritania. Despite varying levels of prioritisation within vaccine rollout plans, fewer than half of teachers are vaccinated in Bosnia and Herzegovina (47 percent), Bulgaria (30 percent), Georgia (36 percent), Indonesia (39 percent) and Mongolia (43 percent). In Uganda, where teachers were allocated to the first priority group, just 16 percent are vaccinated. Teacher vaccination rates can be relatively low in countries where teachers are not prioritised. In Algeria, just 9 percent of teachers are fully vaccinated and the same is true for 12 percent of teachers in Venezuela. On the map prepared by UNESCO, Turkey is grouped in the category where teachers are the "priority group 2" in terms of COVID-19 vaccination. * Source: UNESCO |
(SO/SD)
