States, UTs asked to update data about vaccination of teachers on Google Tracker

The Ministry of Education (MoE) on Tuesday asked states and Union Territories (UTs) to update data about vaccination of teachers twice a week on a Google tracker.

In a meeting with education secretaries from states and UTs, the Ministry of Education asked the officials to come with a roadmap for vaccinating the teachers on priority.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said more than two crore additional COVID-19 vaccine doses are being made available to states this month, and they have been asked to vaccinate all school teachers on priority before Teachers’ Day on September 5.

“The state education secretaries were asked to discuss with their respective health departments and district collectors to prepare a roadmap for vaccination of teachers at the earliest,” a senior MoE official said.

“The states have also been asked to share vaccination details of teachers twice a week on a google tracker provided by the ministry,” the official added.

Schools across the country were closed in March last year ahead of a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of novel coronavirus infection.

The Centre had allowed reopening of schools as per the COVID-19 situation in October last year. While several states began partial reopening of schools, there was a complete closure again in April when an aggressive second wave of COVID-19 hit the country.

With the improvement in the COVID-19 situation, several states have begun reopening schools now even as concerns have been expressed over the staff and teachers not being completely vaccinated.