81% teachers, support staff fully vaccinated in Pune

PUNE: The priority vaccination of teachers and non-teaching staff ahead of the plans to open schools has led to the full immunization of 81% of the total staff deployed in government/private schools against Covid-19 in the Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR), the latest district administration report shows.
There are a total of 56,633 teachers and non-teaching staff working across schools in the region.Of them, 46,432 (81%) have received both the doses so far while 54,802 (96%) of staff have received the first dose. The percentage of vaccination with the first dose is higher in government/municipal Corporation-run schools.
“We will be able to ensure 100% full immunization of teachers and non-teaching staff in the next few days,” Sanjay Deshmukh, assistant director, health services, Pune region, said.
The Union government introduced 'teacher' and 'non-teaching staff' categories on the centralized CoWin portal to accelerate full immunization among the segment from September 1. Besides, the Centre has allocated more than two crore additional Covid-19 vaccines to states to vaccinate school teachers and non-teaching staff on a priority basis.
Most teachers have had already received the first dose of the vaccine and the move about introducing the separate categories on the CoWIN is primarily meant to expedite full vaccination in the segment.
“It is crucial for teachers and school support staff to get fully vaccinated as part of the preparation of reopening the schools,” Sanjay Patil, chairman of the Indian Medical Association of Hospital Board of India (HBI), said on Monday.
Schools have been closed for almost 18 months now since March last year after the Covid-19 outbreak in the country. This has raised concerns about the cognitive as well as physical growth of children. Many states are considering reopening schools after Diwali.
N K Arora, chairman of the National Technical Advisory Group on immunisation, had told TOI that states must expedite full vaccination among teachers and non-teaching staff.
There are nearly 97 lakh teachers in the country. In August, NITI Aayog member VK Paul had said that almost 50% have already been vaccinated.