Haryana lags in school staff vaccination, Lok Sabha told

Nationally, 93% of teachers, 87% of non-teaching given the jabs, says Education Minister

Over 93% of school teachers and 87% of non-teaching staff have been vaccinated against COVID-19, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told the Lok Sabha on Monday, in response to a question from Telegu Desam MP Jayadev Galla.

Haryana is the biggest laggard, with a third of its non-teaching staff and more than one in five teachers yet to receive the vaccine.

With schools having reopened partially or fully in most States, and the looming worries over the Omicron variant, the Education Ministry has been maintaining a weekly tracker on vaccination of all the adults whom students interact with as they return to physical classes. More than two crore additional vaccines were allocated to States at the end of August for school staff on a priority basis, as the Indian Council of Medical Research had recommended that it is as important for bus drivers and other support staff to be protected as the teachers are.