BUKIT MERTAJAM – The Higher Education Ministry hopes that lecturers at all institutions of higher learning will be the earliest recipients of the Phase Two vaccination programme which is expected to begin next month.
Deputy Minister Datuk Mansor Othman said lecturers at higher learning institutions should also be given priority as they play an equally important role as other frontliners.
“I hope educators at higher learning institutes will also be vaccinated under the second phase.
“It has been more than a year since classes have been postponed or held online since the outbreak began and health security remains the biggest concern,” he said when met at the Seberang Prai Polytechnic here today.
The Health Ministry previously announced the second phase will run from April to August 2021, and that it will involve high-risk groups such as the elderly, as well as those with morbidity problems – such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
The second phase is expected to involve 9.4 million recipients.
Mansor, who is also MP for Nibong Tebal, said currently 60% of educators in medical institutions nationwide have been given the Covid-19 vaccine, and it will be continued in stages until everything is completed.
“During my recent visit to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital, about 60% of educators there had received their Covid-19 vaccine, and the progress is almost the same at other medical institutions of higher learning.”
Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said last February the government would consider giving the first phase of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to the most at-risk group of teachers.
He reportedly said that the ministry would discuss the matter with the Education Ministry following many applications received from teachers to get vaccinated. – The Vibes, March 22, 2021
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