Deyalsingh: Teachers will be essential workers for covid19 vaccine

HEALTH Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has said that teachers are to be considered essential workers during the distribution of covid19 vaccines.

He revealed this at a press conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's on Wednesday morning.

On Saturday, Deyalsingh said Trinidad and Tobago will receive 100,000 to 120,000 doses of the AstraZeneca covid19 vaccine by the beginning of March.

He has always made it clear there are no plans to vaccinate the entire population, and that the first sets of people to receive it would be essential workers.

"Who are essential workers?" he asked, "Those are workers that we need to keep the country running.

"Those are protective services, fire officers, Coast Guard, Army, sanitation workers, teachers. Vaccinating our teachers now becomes important as you heard the honourable Minister of Education say, we are starting on Monday with the partial reopening of schools. So teachers will form part of that category called essential workers."