Gauteng teachers get vaccinated in Pimville
Across the country, over 550 000 personnel in the public and private education are set to receive the J&J jab in the next two weeks.
Teachers and education personnel flocked to the Grace Bible Church in Pimville, Soweto to get their vaccination shot on Wednesday morning.
It was the first day of Gauteng’s third phase of the vaccine rollout that will see the mass vaccination of the education sector.
Teachers got a shot of the Johnson and Johnson (J&) vaccine, while Pfizer, which requires two jabs, is used for over 60’s.
Grade 11 teacher, Fortunate Cindi was one of the teachers who got vaccinated on Wednesday.
She explained why she decided to get the voluntary jab.
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“Look, I figured it’s better to be safe than sorry. I’d rather get vaccinated than sit and wonder. If it gives me a better chance at fighting covid then why not get the shot?” she said.
Her friend and fellow teacher, Nombulelo Mathabela also spoke to Soweto Urban after getting her jab.
“I’m feeling good, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry and it is far less painful than I thought it would be. I understand bodies are different, but personally, I feel pretty good,” said Mathabela.
Several teachers expressed frustration with the long queue they had to wait in before getting vaccinated.
Speaking to media at the site, Spokesperson for the Minister of Basic Education, Hope Mokgathle acknowledged the delay and the need for an alternative and faster method.
“It was a slow start indeed. But the turnout is really huge at the moment and we are happy about that. It was mostly logistical challenges that we had in the morning. We started preparations on Saturday if you remember when the rollout was announced. Today was the first day, there were some problems and we hope that from onwards everything will be smooth,” Mokgathle said.
Asked what measures are in place to address the issue, the department said they hoped to make use of the online registration system.
“It was supposed to happen today (digital registrations) but the systems were not 100% ready. The delay was that we were using manual registrations and that is not the plan. We will be going fully digital going forward,“ Mokgathle confirmed.
This was the first day of the vaccine rollout that would see the mass vaccination of teachers.
Gauteng has opened a total of 62 vaccination sites for teachers around the province. On Wednesday Gauteng MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi said the province was aiming to vaccinate around 12500 education staff throughout the next two weeks.
Across the country, over 550 000 personnel in the public and private education sector are set to receive the J&J jab in the same period.
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