Minister of Education Dr. Aishath Ali has made a public call to inform the ministry on any cases of schools accepting unvaccinated children, rather than sharing unconfirmed reports on social media.
The education minister made the request in response to a tweet by pediatrician Dr. Ahmed Faisal, who alleged that a school in Addu is accepting unvaccinated children into the institution. The minister said tweeting such unconfirmed statements will only incite fear among the public and requested the doctor to share the information on the school with the ministry. She added the ministry will take immediate action on the school if the report is true.
In response to the tweet by the minister. Dr. Faisal said Health Protection Agency (HPA) and authorities tasked with vaccination in Addu would know which school it is, adding the information was shared with him by the authorities during a visit to Addu last year.
Public concerns were raised after a 3 year old child in Male’ was tested positive for measles on Saturday. HPA revealed that the child had not undergone the full vaccination dosage for the highly contagious, viral disease.
In regard to reports of individuals refusing vaccination, Minister of Health Abdulla Ameen said the administration will ensure everybody is fully vaccinated as it concerns the safety and well-being of the public. The minister noted some people have been refusing vaccination citing religious reasons, which have resulted in reports of unvaccinated children in certain schools. Noting this could compromise the health and safety of the whole community, he urged the public to complete all the required vaccination doses.
Minister Ameen also called on schools to ensure all children have been vaccinated before registering them in the school. He said schools must take responsibility of an outbreak if they fail to ensure all their students have been vaccinated.