At the start of the school year, teachers and school staff should be among the priority groups for vaccination against the coronavirus for the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef.
They call on their member states to put in place a vaccination strategy for teaching staff.
This priority was mentioned in November 2020 by a group of WHO experts (SAGE). Because it has become “vital” that schools remain open despite the prevalence of the delta variant, which is more contagious.
“This is vitally important for children’s education, mental health and social skills, for schools to help empower our children to be happy and productive members of society,” said WHO European Director Hans Kluge by press release. Stating that “the pandemic has caused the most catastrophic disruption in the history of education”.
At the same time, WHO Europe and the UNICEF office for Europe and Central Asia are calling for the vaccination of children over 12 years of age with co-morbidities and for the improvement of the school environment (ventilation, physical distancing , regular screening of students and supervisory staff) to allow schools to remain open.