REOPENING SCHOOLS CANNOT WAIT FOR ALL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TO BE VACCINATED: UN

Tue 27 July 2021:

Classrooms are not major sources of coronavirus infection, schools should be the last institutions to close and the first to reopen in parts of the world where coronavirus vaccines are in low supply, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“Reopening schools cannot wait for all teachers and students to be vaccinated. With the global vaccine shortages plaguing low and middle-income countries, vaccinating frontline workers and those most at risk of severe illness and death will remain a priority,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters.

Clear evidence shows that Primary and secondary schools are not primary drivers of coronavirus transmission, Elder added.

Elder cited data showing that in the Northern Hemisphere, more than 600 million primary and secondary students in areas not normally closed during the summer remain out of school.

In nearly half of nations in Asia and the Pacific, schools have been closed for more than 200 days during the pandemic, and schools remain on lockdown in 18 nations or territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, Elder said.

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