The Basic Education sector made a request a couple of weeks ago, for educators and support staff at schools to be vaccinated. This request was made in the context of the learning losses already suffered since March 2020, as a direct result of COVID-19. Collectively, we welcome the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the vaccines for the Basic Education sector had been secured and we are ready for the roll-out in our Province.
It is within this context that the Departments of Education and Health in the Northern Cape have been working around the clock in the past few weeks to finalise our plan on the vaccination of educators and support staff. We have also been working very closely with our stakeholders, who have contributed immensely in ensuring the success of the vaccination programmes. We are glad to announce that we all are in agreement regarding the approach to be taken in terms of the vaccination roll-out.
The vaccination roll-out will start on Wednesday, 23 June 2021, and will continue until Thursday, 8 July 2021, a day before schools will close to mark the end of the second term.
Those that have been identified arein total 16 100 persons to be vaccinated over the next 14 days.
• All PERSAL Staff (as at April 2021) in DBE (educators, administrative and support staff) at all public schools; irrespective of their age;
• School Governing Body appointed teachers, and those teachers employed by independent schools registered in terms of the South African Schools Act.
A strict registration process will be followed, as follow:
• If you are PERSAL staff member, your details have already been captured onto the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS);
• Lists for SGB appointees and independent school educators will be uploaded onto the EVDS;
• On-site data capturing will be required for individual’s cell numbers; and medical aid details;
• There will be NO ON-SITE registrations – it simply means that a person cannot be registered on-site; and therefore, cannot be vaccinated. Should this happen to you, the on-site officials will help you on the steps to be followed for assistance;
• The Departments of Health and Basic Education at Provincial and District levels, will work together to link schools to identified vaccination sites; and
• The verification of basic education staff – where the EVDS is offline due to power outages, will require a list or letters signed-off by their respective Principals.
We need to note however that there are exclusions; which means that there are some people, who may not qualify to be vaccinated. These individual may include, but not limited to:
• Any person who had contracted COVID-19 in the past 30 days;
• Any person who was vaccinated using another vaccine (Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson, under Sisonke); or
• Any person who had received a flu vaccine in the past 14 days.
In our deliberations with the Department of Health, it was further agreed that the vaccination programme must cover:
• Staff who transport children to and from schools;
• Staff who support the school feeding scheme – here we refer to the food handlers;
• Staff who do remote learning programmes (TV and Radio); and
• Staff of Teacher Unions, and indeed other contracted staff who provide security, do cleaning and other functions at school.
Vaccination is voluntary, but highly recommended so that everybody can be protected. Let us work together on this fight against COVID-19 in our schools.
The 29 vaccination sites identified in the Province are as follow:
Frances Baard District:
Sol Plaatjie: Newton Primary School
Phokwane: Hartswater Primary School Library
Kgomotso High School Hall
Vaalharts High School
Magareng: Warrenton Primary School
Dikgatlong: Vaalrivier High School
Delportshoop Combined School
Reakantswe High School
ZF Mgcawu District
Dr. Harry Surtie Hospital
MediclinicUpington
Postmansburg Hospital
Groblershoop CHC
Kakamas Hospital
Askam CHC
PixleyKaSeme District
Renosterberg&Emthanjeni: De Aar Hospital
Siyathemba: Prieska Primary School
Siyacuma: Douglas CHC
Ubuntu &Kareeberg: Victoria Wes CHC
Umsobomvu: Colesburg Hospital
John TaoloGaetsewe District
Tshwaragano Hospital
PakoSeboko CHC
Bendel CHC
Dithakong CHC
Laxey CHC
Namakwa District
Pofadder CHC
Port Nolloth CHC
Joe Slovo CHC
Matjieskloof CHC
Calvinia High School
The registration is done via the EVDS system of Health based on the PERSAL information provided. All staff is required to take along their identity documents and medical aid information, where applicable.
Given the vast distances to be travelled in the Province, schools and District Offices are working on transport plans. All Districts are finalizing the linking of specific schools to sites and ensure that all eligible staff is linked to a specific site on a specific date and time.
For the next two weeks, we make the clarion call to our school communities to “DROP ALL, AND VACCINATE!” In order for us to successfully complete this programme, we will need to keep schools open. Any disruptions would be undesirable. The vaccination of everybody in the sector is an opportunity to normalize schooling and begin the process of mitigating the impact of COVID-19.
We need to work extremely hard and around the clock to vaccinate as many people as possible in our sector.
Vaccinating does not mean that we need to stop adhering to the non-pharmaceutical health and safety protocols. The scientists have told us that the vaccines do not provide 100 percent protection against the virus; even though they are very important in the fight against COVID-19. We therefore, need to continue to strictly adhere to the non-pharmaceutical measures to curb the spread of the virus.
*Media Statement
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