Over 200,000 students get COVID jab
Published:Thursday | March 10, 2022 | 12:09 AM
Minister of Education Fayval Williams has reported that more than 200,000 students aged 12 to 18 have received at least one dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
Jamaica began inoculation of that cohort in August 2021, with a view of returning to face-to-face classes in secondary schools only if institutions achieved a vaccination rate of 65 per cent or higher. The plan to impose that barrier for entry was later shelved.
“The numbers continue to climb. There is no target date by which we need to get to any percentage. Several months ago, we had addressed that issue when we decided to bring back all our students in our high schools,” Williams said at a Gleaner Editors’ Forum.
The education minister said the ministry continues to encourage high schools to host vaccination blitzes.
“We see that they are having the blitz. We see the posters and it is reflected in the numbers. Vaccination is critical to ensuring that we beat the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.