Minister of Education and Research Anatolie Topală said the obligation for unvaccinated education system employees to present a PCR or antigen COVID-19 test result will not be reviewed. It remains valid and is aimed at protecting the health of children. No unvaccinated employee will be dismissed if they do not get immunized, but access to the education institution will be banned in the absence of a negative COVID-19 test result, IPN reports.

The Government set the task of ensuring a vaccination rate of 95% in each education institution until October 1. The obligation to present a COVID-19 test result once in 14 days was introduced with the aim of encouraging the education system employees to get vaccinated. The tests will not be made free as long as the state ensures free vaccination.

“This provision is aimed at making the school environment safe. At school the teacher is one, while the students are many in number. We aim to make schools safe so that the education process continues with physical presence in classrooms. It goes to the health of children and we must make sure that the environment in which they stay is safe. The education system employees should realize that they endanger their health, the health of children and their mates if they don’t get a vaccine,” Anatolie Topală stated in the program “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.

He noted that no teacher will be dismissed, but the decision for the teaching staff to pay for the COVID-19 tests themselves will not be modified. A similar obligation can be introduced for other categories of employees.

The Government announced that at national level, the costs associated with the testing of unvaccinated teachers will not be covered by the state. But the Chisinau City Hall intends to allocate 3 million lei for purchasing COVID-19 rapid tests intended for teachers from the capital city.