Approximately 75% to 80% of the Northern Marianas College’s employees have been vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to NMC’s Office of Institutional Advancement program coordinator Miguel Dandan, 75% to 80% of the NMC’s employees have been vaccinated. This includes the staff, administrative, and instructors.
It was not immediately learned if the remaining 20% have yet to receive the vaccine due to medical conditions or religious beliefs or is currently waiting on their vaccination date.
Since the CNMI received the first batch of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in December 2020, NMC has been campaigning for its students to get vaccinated as well. This campaign includes hosting virtual sessions for students and teachers who have questions about the vaccine, what to expect with the vaccines, and encouraging its students to get vaccinated.
“The COVID-19 vaccine is now available for individuals 16 years and over on Saipan [and] 18 years and older for Rota and Tinian. We strongly urge you, for your safety, as well as your family’s and our community’s safety and wellbeing, to vaccinate as soon as possible,” said NMC in its recent post on their vaccine campaign.
In a previous interview, NMC interim president Frankie Eliptico said he wanted everyone to be vaccinated while making sure they do it in the “right way.”
Eliptico said he trusts the science and those who have been given the responsibility of determining if the vaccine is safe to distribute.
“I trust their judgment and I trust the science, so I will be happy, and I look forward to being vaccinated when the rest of my campus community, teachers, students, and support staff are vaccinated… I’ll be the first one if possible,” said Eliptico.
Saipan Tribune also reached out to Educatiuon Commissioner Dr. Alfred Ada to see where PSS is with their employees and teachers being vaccinated but as of press time, Ada has yet to respond.