TEACHERS who will participate in the pilot run of limited face-to-face classes will be vaccinated against Covid19, an official of the Department of Education said.

Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said that a select number of teachers in 120 identified schools will be given jabs.

“May kasunduan with the Department of Health na ‘yung mga nasa schools na kalahok dito sa pilot face-to-face ay kahit hindi nasa priority areas ay bibigyan ng consideration para sa vaccination,” Maluluan said.

The official, however,  said that DepEd is pushing an institutional approach to the prioritization of teachers in the government’s vaccination program.

“Tayo ay represented sa ating National Vaccine Operations Center. Ang itinutulak po natin palagi ay institutional approach to the vaccination of our teachers,” he said.

The inoculation of teachers will be through local government units.

As of September 6, Malaluan said that 300,000 or 30 percent of teachers have been vaccinated, with most of them in the National Capital Region.

“Sa NCR po ay umabot na ng 80%, ang Region IV-A ay nearly 60%, at doon sa Western Visayas ay 47% na,” the official said.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF earlier said teachers and school staff should be prioritized for Covid19 vaccinations so that schools can stay open.