60% employees of Abu Dhabi’s education sector vaccinated

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) has made a significant contribution in aiding the health and safety of the education sector by participating in the UAE’s nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

More than 60% employees of public and private schools across the emirate have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of the ADEK Vaccination Drive held between Jan.17 and Jan.26 in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Department of Health and Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre.

The authority had invited the emirate’s private and public school teachers as well as administration and operations staff to be immunised alongside ADEK employees and their families, to accelerate the safe return to schools.

The vaccination drive was open to 222 private and public schools throughout Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Al Dhafra region. Each participating school was designated a day to conduct vaccinations on campus, with professional health workers administering vaccinations to approximately 15,000 staff members who opted in and were eligible to take part.

The initiative is part of the continued nationwide efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 and ensure optimal health and safety within the school community and across wider society.

"Our upmost priority is to ensure the health and safety of our education and school community, and to support the government’s efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19,” said Ayesha Al Blooshi, ADEK COVID-19 Incident Management Team Lead. "This is our national duty, and our community has demonstrated unwavering support for the vaccination drive with 60 per cent uptake across eligible schools and personnel. We applaud our stakeholders’ commitment to aid the UAE’s vaccination agenda in support of a return to normal life.”

Following their first dose, all school staff and teachers were briefed and provided with specific dates for their second dose.

Over 400 ADEK team members and their immediate relatives took their first dose of the Sinopharm COVID-19 injection at ADEK headquarters before encouraging peers in the education sector to follow suit.

To protect the health and safety of students, teachers and school staff, the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge has approved remote learning for all students at both public and private schools in the emirate till Feb.6.