By Fredrick Odiero
All teachers and support staff at Sango Buru mixed day and boarding secondary school in Nyakach Sub County, Kisumu County have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
The school principal Mr George Nyangwe mobilized health personnel to undertake the exercise within the institution.
Nyangwe urged secondary school heads in Kisumu county to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their students.
Nyangwe who is the Kisumu county Kenya secondary school heads association chairman regretted that some of the school heads in the county had died of Covid-19. He appealed to school heads with underlying health conditions to prioritize getting vaccinated.
“The war on the pandemic requires collective responsibility,” Nyangwe said.
He advised teachers to observe all the Covid-19 health protocols.
Nyangwe revealed that he had mobilized health workers in the county to visit schools and vaccinate teachers.
Teacher’s Service Commission Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nancy Macharia has in the past expressed concern over the low uptake of the vaccine among members of the teaching fraternity.
Public Service Principal Secretary Mary Kimonye said civil servants who will not have received their first jab of the vaccine by the deadline set risked losing their salaries, benefits and allowances. They could also be locked out of their offices.
Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua had on August 5 directed all public servants to get vaccinated by August 23 or face disciplinary action.
In Nyanza, regional commissioner Magu Mutindika said that he expects to have the list of those who have complied with the directive to get vaccinated.
He said his officers were mandated to collect ID and telephone numbers of teachers as they get vaccinated.
“We have enough vaccines for all of them. I have not received any information about shortages in the region,” he said.
On the other hand, Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary general Collins Oyuu called on the government to stop issuing ultimatums on the vaccination drive saying the vaccines were not available in some regions.
“Last Friday in Kapenguria, teachers who had flocked the facilities to get vaccinated had to go back home without being served due to shortage,” he said.
He said that out of the 320,000 teachers in the country, only 35 per cent have been vaccinated against the virus.
