With the expectation of administering the first dose of the vaccine Covid-19 about 900 employees, today formally began vaccinating teaching and non-teaching staff in public and private schools, with the intention of a reopening of nurseries that the government continues to aspire to concretize in March.
Although at the moment the vaccination effort for this sector is concentrated in centers located in San Juan, Bayamón and Mayagüez, from next Monday will also open five centers: in Loíza, Arroyo, Comerío, Arecibo and Ponce, said the assistant general of the National Guard, José Reis.
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Once the eight vaccination centers are open, 2,400 people could be vaccinated daily from Monday to Friday. Although at this rate it would be possible to immunize the 55,000 employees of public and private schools in less than two months, the designated Secretary of Education, Elba Aponte Santos, Noted that a potential reopening of the salons would not be conditional on reaching a goal of vaccinated people.
“It is not conditioned on that. Our expectation is to have the opportunity for our employees to be vaccinated because it minimizes any risk and is a sense of protection, but it is not conditioned on that,” Aponte Sants stressed at a news conference. carried out in the Federico Asenjo school, In Sant Joan, one of the vaccination centers for school staff.
In the activity were also leaders of teaching organizations, private education, school canteens and directors of public nurseries.
“It could be said that the process has been quite organized. In the village of Bayamón at 9:00 am I was called by colleagues who were there who had finished the vaccination process. They had many tables there. Here and in Mayagüez the process continues People feel safe, with distancing and protocols, so it has been a very agile process to provide some security to teaching and non-teaching staff. Federation (of Teachers) we understand that it is not safe at this time to return in person, the positivity rate is too high and children are not going to be vaccinated. However (the start of vaccination for employees) is a step forward, “said Mercedes Martinez, president of this teaching body.
Wanda Ayala, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Private Education Association, Recalled that about 40% of school-age students are enrolled in private kindergartens, so it was of great importance that this sector also participated in this phase of vaccination.
“At the end of this week, through the Superintendence of Catholic Schools and the Association of Private Education we will be reorganizing by regions which school touches to him which day, so that they can go (to the vaccination) without needing to make agglomerations of people nor to have to wait, because we have virtual classes that to attend “, has maintained Ayala.
“Private schools have been working within their schools since the executive order back in May (2020) authorized teaching and non-teaching staff to be inside the nurseries for a possible reopening, Therefore, apart from the fact that private education is autonomous and independent, and each institution has its own level of preparation, we understand that at the time when the governor authorizes it, the colleges Private laws may be ready to restart, “he added.
Aponte Sants, however, reiterated that there is no fixed date for the return to face-to-face classes, beyond the general goal set for March. The reopening of schools, therefore, will depend on multiple factors, he insisted.
“We have an expectation to move in a plan that we are designing and we have outlined this goal as a sense of urgency. There are several issues we are working on: infrastructure, transportation, staff recruitment, school conditioning. We are working with all of these priorities.This is going to be community-oriented, there are communities that have closed to us that have developed their plan in the schools themselves and want us to give them the opportunity.We are consulting with the Department of Health to move in that direction, even with the most vulnerable, (as students) of kindergarten, special education and fourth year, ”the agency’s designated headline stated.
On the subject of infrastructure, Aponte Sants noted that “all” kindergartens need some degree of conditioning to receive students. However, some 53 schools are “unfit” to open without major jobs, while another 253 are “partially fit,” according to official data. About 551 of the 857 seedlings are in good condition.
At the same press conference, the president of the Teachers Association, Víctor Bonilla Sánchez, He noted that resources from the organization itself had visited 432 public schools, of which, he said, 60% “are not fit” to reopen.
Aponte Santos said interlocking schedules would be considered to allow for the assistance of students from schools with major damage, and did not close the door on reopening nurseries in good condition that have been closed by previous administrations, particularly in the southern region, where schools were severely affected by last year’s earthquakes.