Western Cape Government prepared to distribute vaccines to staff

The WCED welcomes the announcement by the Minister of Basic Education that the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) single dose COVID-19 vaccine for all education sector staff will begin in the coming week.

Vaccines are a vital tool in our fight against Covid-19. It is crucial that we avoid any further disruptions to our school calendar, as our learners are already suffering serious learning losses from the past year. The impact of these losses will be felt by our learners and the economy for many years to come.

Vaccinating our staff will reduce the risk of them becoming seriously ill and make our schools safer places, giving us the confidence to return all our schools to normal timetabling. I urge all our staff to participate to assist in making our schools safer and getting back to some semblance of normality. 

The WCED, along with the provincial Department of Health, has been making extensive preparations for this announcement. On the 9^th of June, our HoD wrote to all schools advising them of the vaccination plan, including a circular on the preparations for the rollout. The first step was to ensure that our eligible staff were registered for the vaccines should they wish to receive them. The Department of Health has identified specific vaccination sites for the sector, and districts will communicate the arrangements directly to our schools as to when they will need to go to their designated site. The DoH has also held information sessions for all principals on the vaccine, so they are fully informed and prepared ahead of the vaccination process.

We will release further details regarding the rollout in the coming week.