COVID-19 vaccination will be mandatory for eligible returning students over 12 in Puerto Rico
The Puerto Rico Department of Health announced Thursday that it will be issuing an administrative order to establish a new COVID-19 protocol that requires students over 12 to inoculate against the coronavirus disease to go back to in-person instruction at schools and institutions of higher education.
During a press conference held in Guillermo Arbona Hall, Health Secretary Carlos Mellado López, along with Miguel Valencia Prado, deputy director of the COVID-19 Incident Command System Office, presented a guide with a nine-step procedure to prevent infections within educational premises, including the requirement to vaccinate against the disease that as of Thursday had cost the lives of 2,566 people in Puerto Rico.
I think it is time for students to have the chance to receive education in a safe and adequate way, said Mellado López, who later noted that people with immunocompromised conditions, who are allergic to vaccines or have other medical predispositions could be exempt from the administrative order.
The Health chief said the agency considered the recommendations established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the recent uptick in cases and hospitalizations in developing the guidelines that seek to prevent any situation that could lead schools to shut their doors again.
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