Minister of Health & Wellness: “Teachers must get vaccinated!”

Michel Chebat

The Minister of Health and Wellness says he wants teachers vaccinated.  As you’ve seen over the last few weeks, several cases of COVID-19 were detected in different schools and the Ministry of Education later called for an end to face-to-face teaching for this school term.  And when it comes to vaccinations, there are still hundreds of teachers who haven’t taken the jab.  And up to now, there are still no vaccines available for children.  So, what will the ministry do?

Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness

“I think again it is important for me to send this message, especially to teachers. Teachers must get vaccinated. We know that children are carriers of this virus but they are more than likely, ninety-five percent of the time they are asymptomatic. The problem is that when they go home they run the risk of infecting the older members of their families and so we want a situation where teachers who are on the frontline with these children who interact everyday to get vaccinated. I want to say this as well, that the government is pushing hard to get vaccines for the twelve to eighteen-year-old group so that we can then focus on vaccinating them and we are hoping that by the time school reopens those vaccines will be in country and at least that age group would have gotten vaccinated before school reopens.”

Reporter

“On the topic of vaccines, will the ministry be looking to procure vaccines from Cuba? We know that recently they had success with their vaccines?”

Michel Chebat

“They have had great success. As a matter of fact one of the recent reviews I saw rates the Cuban vaccine at the top of the list in terms of efficacy. We are looking at all possibilities and so the door is not closed on any vaccine.”