Over 200,000 Teachers Risk Missing Out on August Salaries

Over 200,000 teachers are staring at the risk of missing out on their August 2021 salaries after failing to take Covid-19 vaccines.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has since issued teachers from across the country with a seven-day ultimatum to take the full doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine or face disciplinary action.

The directive is in line with the order issued by Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua requiring all civil servants in the country to take the two full doses of the vaccine.

TSC boss Nancy Macharia revealed that only 110,342 teachers have taken the full dose of the vaccine since the process began. This number is short of the commission's target of 330,671.

The commission announced that 178,734 tutors had only taken one dose of the jab. Macharia directed that the remaining teachers get the jab in seven days starting today, August 17.

She stated that the figures were worrying and far from impressive. The TSC boss expressed her displeasure at teachers skipping vaccination after they were identified by the government as frontline workers.

People Daily on August 17, quoted an insider at the teachers' employer, who revealed drastic measures TSC will employ to ensure 100 percent vaccination of teachers.

"What TSC is doing is to enforce the Kinyua directive among teachers, failure to which there will be penalties such as withholding next salaries for those who will not have taken the jab upon the expiry of the seven-day notice," the source was quoted by the publication as saying.

Last week, Kinyua directed all civil servants in the country to take the vaccine within two weeks or risk serious disciplinary action.

He accused a section of servants of skipping vaccination so that they can stay home. This he said, is affecting service delivery across various government offices.