30 Aug 2021

Majority of teachers and non-teaching staff in Kgalagadi district have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as a strategic measure to prepare for reopening of schools in a weeks’ time. 

Speaking in an interview on Friday, Ministry of Basic Education-Kgalagadi regional operations, chief education officer, Ms Zipporah Mapange said vaccination of teaching and non-teaching staff in Kgalagadi south Sub-district started mid-August and was at 82.4 per cent where a total of 466 teachers had been vaccinated against 565. 

On the other hand, 416 non-teaching staff members had also been vaccinated out of 514 employees. 

Thus the development put them in a better position to reopen schools as the majority of school staff had been vaccinated. Ms Mapange however, said that some of the teachers did not receive vaccination due to shortage of vaccination doses nationwide. 

Other employees, she said were on self-isolation, others on quarantined while a small percentage had expressed that they were not prepared to take the vaccine. 

Meanwhile she said, schools had been inspected for compliance and the majority of them had shown readiness. 

She said some secondary schools needed to improve compliance and would be assisted with funds. 

She said as schools re-opened teachers had been encouraged to use ICT based learning by incorporating about 30 per cent of digitised learning to improve teaching and learning. This would compel parents to strive to expose their children to the digital world by providing necessary learning tools. 

For her part, Kgalagadi Regional Health Team coordinator, Ms Gaboelwe Rammekwa said vaccination in Kgalagadi south was going well despite resource constraints. So far she said, the sub-district had been apportioned 728 doses for teachers and non-teaching staff, which were administered for a period of two weeks. 

She said, generally health officials received good public response towards COVID-19 vaccination where community leaders in different villages assisted with community mobilisation. “Very few people declined taking the vaccines as compared to when the campaign started,” she noted. She said they received 1 633 Johnson and Johnson doses and over 95 percent had already been administered. The remaining 85 doses would be used at the cattle posts and farms, which were not covered. 

She said there was a high turn up for Johnson and Johnson compared to other vaccines. Ms Rammekwa said the sub-district had received second doses of different vaccines adding that for Astrazeneca they received 640 doses and vaccinated 590 people. From the 3 202 doses of Sinovac received, she said 2 980 people were vaccinated for first and second doses. 

The total number of fully vaccinated people as at August 25 was 5 228. She said COVID-19 mortalities recorded in the sub district were 33 to date, and cautioned the public to continue to strictly adhere to health protocols and come for their second doses. 

One of the challenges faced, she said, was delay in administering second doses especially the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was received by end of July. Despite the challenge, health officials ensured that people were vaccinated save for a few who were not well and those not available to be vaccinated, she said. ends