Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has signalled that if significant numbers of students are not vaccinated, Government may well have to consider a parallel education system, where some students are allowed to return to in-person learning and others will continue online.
The logistics of this will of necessity have to be worked out.
It is no secret that the advent of online learning over the past year and a half has negatively impacted thousands of children. Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly has said over 2,000 children dropped out of school in the period due to their inability to make the transition for varying reasons. Hopefully, these children will not be allowed to fall by the wayside and a way can be found to return them to formal schooling.
The impact online classes have had on children in a broader sense must also be considered by parents pondering whether to vaccinate their children or not.
There is no denying that the anti-vax message has struck a chord with some in T&T, contributing to overall hesitancy.
Across the world and in the region, however, it is clear that those who do not vaccinate are more susceptible to getting the virus and the new global mantra is that there is also a pandemic of the unvaccinated.
The warning from UWI Professor Hariharan Seetharaman that this country’s low vaccination rate could lead to the emergence of a new, local variant must be worrying to every citizen given the dangers already posed by the deadly Delta variant.
Yesterday, CARPHA also released a study that showed a significant link between education levels and vaccine acceptance. According to CARPHA, those who were less educated about COVID-19 were most likely to have concerns and display hesitancy. Top concerns of the hesitant include possible side effects, how quickly the vaccines were developed and a general lack of information about the vaccines. The majority of people with less than a primary school education were more inclined to believe the vaccine would not protect them against the virus. The study found they got their information from friends, family, or television, while those with university education gravitated to the WHO and other public health organisations for information.
What is interesting is that the survey did not speak to the impact of misinformation from social media on hesitancy. This unscientific survey has highlighted that there is a lot of work to be done to educate the public and particularly the hesitant about the vaccines.
What is needed is a public education campaign that addresses the concerns identified in the CARPHA study. If this country is to win this war against this deadly virus, then it is incumbent on the authorities to change their messaging. There is a need to start a media blitz much like what happens during elections where the public is bombarded with messages on radio, television, the daily newspapers, microphones and whatever other means regularly, informing citizens of the efficacy of the vaccines to allay all fears.
This country cannot afford to lose this war, but we also cannot allow our children’s education to suffer either.