TSC appeals to all teachers to get the Covid-19 jab

By Momanyi Senior

Teachers Service Commission boss Dr. Nancy Macharia has called all teachers to take the covid-19 vaccine as they are a population priority by the government in the vaccination drive.

Speaking during the release of last year’s 2020 KCPE results at the Kenya National Examinations Council headquarters in Nairobi, she commended the 92,246 teachers who had already taken the jab and she hopped the numbers to rise.

Dr. Macharia added that it was now possible for all the teachers to get vaccinated irrespective of their age as it was allowed by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In the beginning, only teachers who had attained the age of 50 years and above were eligible for the vaccine.

According to Dr. Macharia, the commission had done everything possible to protect teachers from the effects of Covid-19 saying they had instructed medical insurance providers to cover all teachers against Covid-19 related ailments which they have since complied with.

She further added that, they had allowed 15,000 teachers aged 50 years and above to work from home although majority of them were keen to help their learners where they volunteered to attend to their normal duties.

Despite these efforts, she confirmed that the commission had lost 15 teachers from the virus in the primary section alone where 8 are head teachers and 3 deputy head teachers where she empathized with their families.

She asked teachers to refer to the 622 covid-19 vaccine centers listed on the TSC website for ease of reference adding that some of the accredited medical providers by the ministry of health are in the teachers’ medical scheme.

Many of the examiners who went to mark the KCPE examination had not been vaccinated because of travelling immediately the exams were over and the TSC chief now appeals to all the examiners that will travel as from next week to various centers for marking of the KCSE exams to ensure they are vaccinated before they travel.