The COVID-19 vaccination for teachers and education sector workers has expanded throughout the country after their immunisation started few days ago at schools in Tirana. Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastriliu travelled to Durres today to see the vaccine roll-out for teachers up close.
“The teacher vaccination process is progressing very well in Durres too,” Health Minister said, adding that immunisation of teachers and education staff is already underway in 41 schools across Albania.”
Silva Bino, the Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Infectious Disease Control at the Public Health Institute, said that “vaccination process is progressing as planned since Saturday and no severe side effects have been reported, despite there is a hesitation due to the media reports over the vaccine effectiveness.”
Speaking about media speculations over the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, PM Rama noted that people are not to blame for being worried amid all sorts of news stories and decisions that might have been made for 1000 reason in other countries. This is an ongoing great war for life, but it is also a trade war. Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Canada and Belgium confirmed earlier today that they will press ahead with the vaccination as there is no scientific evidence and the immunisation should not be called off just because of suspicions over another series of the vaccine. All the countries, including the ones that have suspended the vaccination drive, are waiting for the confirmation from the World Health Organization and EMA. EMA is the European Medicine Agency that has confirmed the vaccine’s value and effectiveness only and has showed no signs of insecurity. If these organizations say the process should stop, we will stop it. What I was talking about with London officials today is that millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses have been administered to date and no problems of whatsoever have been reported and the British Agency has confirmed that the vaccination goes on.”
Bino added that WHO has clarified that all vaccine batches delivered to our country and other countries belong to a series that has nothing to do with the batch of the vaccines that have been suspended after problems were reported.
Teachers and the academic staff represent the most important links on the chain of our society and as such should receive the coronavirus vaccine immediately after doctors and nurses, as the country is seeking to speed up the immunisation drive in a bid to break many links on the infection chain ahead of the upcoming summer tourist season.
