Turkey begins vaccinating teachers ahead of face-to-face education

ANKARA

Turkey has started the vaccination of teachers ahead of the commencement of face-to-face education slated for March 1. Education Minister Ziya Selçuk received his first shot in a ceremony held in the Central Anatolia province of Çorum on Feb. 24.

“We are standing with our teachers, and I got my first dose with our teachers. Our teachers will follow the e-Pulse system to know when they will be vaccinated,” Selçuk told reporters.

Turkey will gradually start face-to-face education for primary school students as well as for the students in eighth and 12th grades on March 1 in line with the country’s efforts to return to normalcy. The vaccination program was launched on Jan. 14, and more than 7.5 million doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine have been administered to people so far.

The government decided to protect teachers through vaccination after it decided to open schools for certain classes.

“The Health Ministry is making the necessary planning for the supply of the vaccine. We have submitted a list of our 1,259,000 personnel in the previous weeks,” Selçuk informed, recalling that no country that has started face-to-face education could accomplish the vaccination of their teachers in the way Turkey is doing currently.

Selçuk also stated that all schools that would open their doors to students and teachers have almost completed their preparations in terms of sanitizing their premises and classrooms.

“We can perfectly run face-to-face education without any problems. Our schools are ready. Almost all of them have received ‘My school is clean’ certificate,” Selçuk said.