Botswana Democratic Party Youth League (BDPYL) has appealed to government to ensure that teachers are vaccinated before returning to school next week Tuesday.
This comes after government announced that a consignment of over 100 000 Johnson &Johnson vaccines will arrive in the country on Thursday this week.
BDP Youth League General Secretary Otsile Machona indicated that although government has continuously encouraged teachers to vaccinate, they should however be prioritised with J & J vaccine.
“Government has previously encouraged teachers to take advantage of the roll out in order to return to schools safely but in any case, some have already been vaccinated and we hope that the vaccine will be rolled out to those remaining behind,” added Machona.
He further said cabinet has assured them that efforts have been intensified to ensure that teachers are vaccinated and thereafter roll out the vaccine to the youth.
Machona indicated that despite efforts made by government to ensure that the population is vaccinated, there are individuals who still refuse to be vaccinated.
“Unions and government should join hands to encourage more teachers to take up the vaccine because we have seen recently how many teachers have succumbed to the virus and we do not want a repeat of that once schools are open,” added Machona.
Machona said the only issue that has been making things difficult is lack of communication from government, adding that he intends to approach the relevant Minister to ensure
Machona added that it has been reported that school going children are the main carriers of the virus, stating that this continues to put teachers at high risk of contracting the virus.
On the other hand, the Secretary General of BOSETU Tobokani Rari said the Union will not let teachers return to work this month when schools reopen if they are not vaccinated.
Rari has said the leadership of BOSETU and BTU have met and agreed that, looking at the high number of teachers dying daily from Covid-19, it would be senseless for them to return to work.
He further mentioned that their lawyers are busy preparing themselves for a court case and should push come to shove, then the Unions will be left with no choice but to interdict Government from continuing to reopen the schools, while teachers are not vaccinated.
