Kaunas teachers are confused: they learned of the impending sanctions too late

As indicated in the package insert, staff who do not wish to be vaccinated should perform a PCR test every 7 to 10 days according to a plan established and approved by the director of the educational institution, during which a sample will be taken from the nasopharynx. for COVID-19 infection.

Tomas Daukantas, head of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (ŠMSM), announced at a remote press conference on Thursday afternoon that employees who did not get vaccinated and did not test for coronavirus in educational institutions were even threatened with dismissal without pay until they are certified healthy.

“If an employer has proof that a teacher, a teacher or another employee of an educational institution, has not been vaccinated and is not testing for a contagious disease, then it is obliged to remove the person and not pay until they certify that he is sick and can work.

This is established in the Law for the Control of Communicable Diseases and Prevention of Humans, ”said T. Daukantas.

He found out what he was waiting for too late

“We would have known that this would be the case, perhaps we would have been vaccinated”, educators in the city of Kaunas were bothered to go to the Delfi portal, but they wanted to preserve anonymity. They said they received information about the vaccination process too late.

Dissatisfied and already vaccinated staff who said it was too late to know they had two PCR tests before the second vaccination.

Daiva Kuzminienė, Chief Specialist of the Kaunas City Municipal Administration Health Care Division, when asked why the information on the vaccination procedure only after vaccinating teachers with the first vaccine, replied: “ We started vaccinating educators only after the public. Because we had made preparations responsibly, we invited the priority group to do rapid antibody tests, we listened to who would like vaccination, we had a good information management tool, we were able to react quickly and start vaccination without waiting long. “

At the same time, D. Kuzminienė added: “Vaccine recipients become familiar with all the information about the vaccine by completing a special vaccination form approved by the SAM and giving their consent for vaccination.

The vaccine package insert and the special package insert are provided before the vaccine is administered, when the registrars notice the arrival of the patient to the information system. Only then is vaccination carried out. “

May be removed from office

Educators also complained about pressure from employers to get vaccinated and decide on it as soon as possible.

T. Daukantas said: “On January 28, by order of the chief of operations, the Minister of Health, the decision was made that if the teachers of the respective schools do not vaccinate, the chief should organize a research plan for preventive issues. , which includes several dates: employees of the institutions no more than 7 days and no less than 10 days.

There can be no separate obligations, obligations to vaccinate the employer. If a person has not been vaccinated, has not presented himself with a contagious disease, he must ensure safety at work and remove said teacher if he is a teacher, ”explained the ŠMSM lawyer.

T. Daukantas also said that such a decision was made on the basis of the aforementioned January 28. by decision of the Chief of Operations of the State for State Emergencies and the Law of Control of Communicable Diseases and Prevention of Human Beings.

Dainor Lukas, advisor to the Minister of Education, Science and Sports Jurgita Šiugždinienė, explained that school leaders must assume the obligation to remove the employee, regardless of infection.

“It is not about the coronavirus. It is the duty of the institutions to protect the school, the teachers and the children so that they can study and work in a safe environment ”, explained the counselor.

Other educators who have not yet had a turn to get vaccinated will also need to undergo prevention tests.

The tests would be free

Educators said they received no information on who should pay for PCR tests and how much. T. Daukantas promised that the research would be free.

It is also true that, in some regions, teachers may have to travel up to 30 kilometers to perform a PCR test.

When asked how many such cases there are and whether they have been taken into account, Aidas Aldakauskas, director of the Department of Regional Policy and Quality of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science, replied: “I have to participate in expert discussions on tests not only teachers but also teachers or students, these are the same tests from time to time it is becoming easier and less thought to travel as little as possible during the test, and to be able to add samples somewhere in the nearest mobile point and even make a smear from the nose or mouth, according to the description and characteristics of the test.

How much he refused to vaccinate – I don’t know

D. Kuzminienė said that currently more than 2.1 thousand people have registered for vaccinations in Kaunas. educators.

“We do not have an exact number of people in this priority who have been vaccinated and how many have abandoned the vaccine.” By Thursday night, 4,478 educators had registered for rapid antibody tests, of which 465 had not arrived.

About 50 employees of educational institutions have already been vaccinated in Klaipeda.

Some teachers and employees of other educational institutions will start vaccinating in Klaipeda this week. According to Rožė Perminienė, Head of the Klaipėda City Municipality Health Care Department, they were assigned the rest of the vaccine, which was not used during the vaccination of pharmacy staff.

“The unused balance of the vaccine can be assigned to another priority group, in this case educational personnel. About 50 employees of educational institutions were vaccinated this week.

The new batch of vaccine should arrive in Klaipėda next week, when the vaccination of the majority of educators who have expressed their desire to be vaccinated is scheduled.

Lists of staff from educational institutions wanting to be vaccinated are still available this week, so we cannot say the exact number at this time. To date, lists have been received that include 139 employees. To the extent that they have refused, we do not collect data, the municipality compiles a list of people who want to be vaccinated, ”explained R. Perminienė.

Teachers are not yet vaccinated in Vilnius

Teachers’ shots didn’t start everywhere. For example, in the municipality of Vilnius, the vaccination of employees of educational institutions will begin only from next week.

According to Evaldas Navickas, director of the Vilnius Antakalnis Polyclinic, employees of educational institutions who have not agreed to be vaccinated immediately will be invited to do so again.

Systemic vaccination has not yet started

Although the vaccination of teachers in some other Lithuanian cities has already started, as noted by A. Aldakauskas, it is not yet intensive and systematic.

“Vaccination as a procedure is entrusted to the municipalities and the deadlines will be in their hands. I understand that there are plans to start in the next few days, at least next week [sisteminį skiepijimą].

The question still arises here, apparently, and how many vaccines are available in Lithuania, so that when the process starts, it doesn’t stop somewhere in the middle.

Also, we heard that the AstraZeneca vaccine is suitable for younger people under the age of 55. We have to think about all this logistics so as not to get stuck ”, explained A. Aldakauskas.

At present, teachers of early childhood education, primary pre-school and special schools and special classes who work in direct contact with students are vaccinated. The group of other teachers has not yet been identified as a priority.

Julijanas Gališanskis, Chief Specialist of the Press Service of the Ministry of Health (SAM), told the Delfi portal that, on February 4, according to the data, 1,200 employees were vaccinated in preschool and preschool education institutions, and 140 employees were vaccinated in primary education institutions.

SAM does not collect information on how many educators had to be vaccinated but did not agree to do so, according to the specialist. By the way, those who refused to vaccinate now, according to J. Gališanskis, will be able to do so later. For educators who have already been vaccinated, a second dose of the vaccine will be administered after the time specified by the manufacturer.

Vaccination is not just for educators

J. Gališanskis said that not only teachers but also other employees of educational institutions who have contact with students will be vaccinated. By order of the Minister of Health, the following people were included in the priority groups:

• people who work in educational institutions and other education providers and who have direct contact (permanent or temporary) with students educated in preschool, preschool and primary education programs;

• people who work in special schools or special classes of general education schools and who have direct contact (permanent or temporary) with students according to primary and basic education, individualized primary and basic education, secondary education, development programs of social skills;

• people who work in vocational training institutions and who have direct contact (permanent or temporary) with students in vocational and social skills programs for students with special educational needs;

• Public health specialists in municipal public health offices who provide medical care in schools.

It all depends on the indicators

A, Aldakauskas reported that the duration of the obligation to test unvaccinated teachers will depend not on when the contact work will begin in educational institutions, but on morbidity indicators.

According to them, these indicators should be low enough so that teacher-teachers who teach children from 5th grade onwards can return to teleworking. Now, with a morbidity rate of less than 200 cases a day, only primary school teachers could start working.

“Now we have just under 500 cases a day. In the second half of February, let’s hope that only beginners can start,” explained A. Aldakauskas.

Now, he says, it is suggested that teachers working remotely perform so-called serological tests to determine whether a person has antibodies. If so, it is possible to stay calm for 60 days even without vaccination.