Unless there is a law that makes vaccination mandatory
TACLOBAN CITY-Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that the department will not impose teachers for them to get the vaccination against coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Briones made this in an online interview on Monday (July 12) with members of the local media, adding that vaccination remains to be a voluntary basis.
The education official hinted with his voluntary policy, this could hinder the Department of Education (DepEd)’s plan to pilot some schools using the regular face-to-face method of teaching.
“(Vaccination among teachers) remain, at this point, voluntary. It’s a personal decision, action and this is the opinion of both the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Justice (DOJ),” Briones said.
The education secretary thus said that if she will make the vaccination among teachers mandatory, the department might get into legal trouble unless there will be a law or legal opinion on this purpose.
“The DOJ is very firm (to a pass law first) if we want to make it mandatory,” Briones said.
The DepEd is mulling of face-to-face method of teaching in selected schools in the different parts of the country.
But with this voluntary scheme in taking jabs might hinder this pilot testing as there are local government units who might require for teachers to get the vaccine against COVID-19, Briones said.
Also, a non-vaccinated teacher might catch the deadly virus and similarly, infect the students in the process.
Briones, who admitted to have completed the two-dose vaccination, said that many teachers have signified their interest to get the vaccine.
She urged them to get their vaccines at their respective local government units.
Here in Eastern Visayas, more than 2,300 teachers have received the vaccine of which over 950 of them have received the second dose.
Meantime, the DOH in the region said that the region has 90 new cases, pushing COVID-19 cases in Eastern Visayas to 32,657 cases.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
