The Education Minister Branislav Groehling (SaS) reported on Friday that 66 percent of school employees, that is 84,500 out of 128,000 people working in the education sector have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The minister also claimed that the vaccination rate of such employees exceeded 50 percent in every district in Slovakia apart from Kysucké Nové Mesto (Žilina region), where it currently stands at 49 percent.The highest vaccination rates have been registered in the districts of Dunajská Streda, Šaľa, Bratislava, and Myjava, all in the western part of Slovakia.
On August the 5th, The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport launched a campaign called "For Open Schools" to support vaccination against COVID-19 before the beginning of another school year. The aim is to communicate to everyone working in education that if the country wants to safely open schools in September, it is important that its staff get vaccinated while they still have time. Groehling and other ministers are planning to travel across Slovakia and speak to local mayors. According to the Minister, it is not yet possible to talk about collective immunity, as the vaccination rates in many regions are still low and cases of infection are increasing, which could lead to another outbreak and subsequent online education. He admitted that he would personally be satisfied with an 80 percent vaccination rate but that that is still a long way to go.
