Although India has administered over 106 crore Coronavirus vaccine doses, teachers from Kerala continue to exhibit vaccine hesitancy, reported The Indian Express.
On Saturday (October 30), Kerala’s Education Minister V Sivankutty informed that about 2,282 teachers in the State had not been vaccinated against the Wuhan Coronavirus. He informed that a large number of such teachers had cited their ‘religious Faith’ as a reason for not being vaccinated. Sivankutty emphasised that teachers, who did not get their jab, will not be allowed to take physical classes after schools reopen on November 1.
He pointed out, “A section of them have cited health reasons such as allergy, while others are keeping away from Covid-19 vaccine in the name of faith. The government wants all teachers to take vaccine shots considering the future of students. But we are not going to issue any order. It is better such teachers keep away from the school premises and they can take online classes.”
Kerala has over 20,000 non-teaching staff and 1.60 lakh teachers. The State government had made vaccination compulsory for all teaching and non-teaching staff. It is of the view that such a government directive will prevent Coronavirus outbreaks and works as a bio-bubble. As of Sunday (October 31), Kerala has administered a total of 3.89 crore vaccine doses, with 1.36 crore individuals fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Recent surveys have showed that significant chunks of the Muslim population do not trust vaccines and vaccination rates for the community was far lesser than that for Hindus.
