Vaccinate teachers before Teachers’ Day, states told

Centre would provide two crore doses of vaccine against Covid-19 to the states this month

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Aug. 25 (EMN): Ahead of Teachers’ Day, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mansukh Mandaviya has urged the states to vaccinate all school teachers by September 5.

Mandaviya tweeted on Wednesday that the Centre would provide two crore doses of vaccine against Covid-19 to the states this month, adding that the vaccines were in addition to the ones provided by the ministry at regular intervals to the states and union territories.

‘We have requested all the states to try to vaccinate all school teachers on priority before Teachers’ Day, which is celebrated on September 5,’ the minister tweeted.

This came days after the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench, issued a stay order on the Nagaland government’s notification stating that both the teaching and non-teaching staff should be fully vaccinated or at least taken the first dose 15 days prior to the reopening of schools and colleges.

The Court had asked the principal secretary of Home to modify the standard operating procedures (SOPs), following the government issued a modified SOP accordingly.

The modified SOP stated that all teaching and non-teaching staff should be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or should have completed 15 days after taking the first dose or should have been tested negative for Covid-19 either through RT-PCR or Truenat or CBNAAT once in every 15 days.

‘The schools planning to re-open shall submit the list of all the teaching and non-teaching staff along with the details of the vaccination status or testing status as well as all the arrangements being made for ensuring adherence to the provisions of the SOPs to the respective DTF through the DEO concerned who will grant the permission for re-opening after vaccination,’ it stated.

It also stated that 50% of students would be allowed to attend any class on a particular day.