The Kenya Primary School Heads Association (Kepsha) has requested the government to allow old teachers and those with underlying conditions to get priority in the Covid-19 vaccination rollout for teachers.
Kepsha chairman Johnson Nzioka decried that the teaching industry had already lost a number of tutors to the disease.
“Kepsha has lost members to the coronavirus that has continued to ravage the education sector and the country at large with a massive and unprecedented impact on families,” he stated.
He advised that the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) should come up with a list of teachers in these categories who will get the vaccine.
"After these two categories of people, headteachers should be next in line because they interact with teachers and outside stakeholders such as parents and suppliers," he continued.
Nzioka proposed that teachers who will be administering the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams, should also take the jab, arguing that the teachers will travel widely and interact with a lot of people.
Nzioka also stated that the congestion at the containers during collection and drop off of examination causes a huge risk of transmission
His sentiments came a day after the first dose of the vaccine was administered to Heath DG Dr Patrick Amoth and nine other individuals at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi.
Following the launch at KNH, the vaccination exercise is set to begin in all county referral hospitals.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, while flagging off the consignment on Thursday, assured that the vaccines had passed all the necessary tests and had the stamp of approval from medical experts.
