Teachers meet department regarding vaccination

TEACHERS’ unions yesterday held an urgent meeting with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to discuss the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.

They were worried that the delay by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve the Pfizer vaccine may derail plans to inoculate teachers in the next two weeks.

The delivery of Johnson & Johnson doses was initially expected in the country last Saturday but it was withheld due to the recent cross-contamination of Astrazeneca and Pfizer vaccines at a Covid-19 vaccine plant in Baltimore.

The teachers' unions this week collectively penned a letter to the department asking for an urgent update regarding the vaccination drive after they received calls from agitated teachers and education support staff enquiring about the rollout date.

National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA executive director Basil Manuel said: “We wrote a single letter to ask for an urgent update because our people are rightfully starting to worry.

“The teachers and general workers are asking what is going on.”

At least 500 000 teachers and the education support staff, aged 40 and above, are targeted for the first round of vaccinations in the education sector.

The vaccine distribution delays have affected many countries across the world that are also waiting for the FDA administration to approve the vaccine for release.

Manuel said: “The reason why the vaccine was withheld is because of the problem they had in one of the plants in Baltimore.

“And because there was some cross-contamination with the two vaccines, they had to do a whole lot of testing of batches to see that there has been no contamination.”

Meanwhile, he said, preparation for the rollout was going ahead with education departments in provinces already sending letters to “schools to prepare people targeted for the vaccine”.

“Remember that there has to be an agreement between a vaccine recipient and the government because nobody will be forced and that actually helps us to know how many doses we actually need,” Manuel said.

Professional Educators’ Union general secretary Ben Machipi, who was part of the meeting with the DBE, said the vaccine delays were beyond the control of the union.

Speaking to the Pretoria News just before the meeting, he said: “As we speak I am just about to get into a meeting with the department where they will be updating us on the latest regarding the delivery.”

He said the unions were ready for the vaccination process to get under way as soon as the delivery had been made.

“We are still waiting for approval by the Food and Drug Administration. We are optimistic that it will be delivered. If it is delivered we will stick to the two weeks but if not we will wait for the time when it is delivered,” Machipi said.

SA Democratic Teachers Union general secretary Mugwena Maluleke could not comment as he was in a meeting. However, he had repeatedly said the union had called for the teachers’ vaccination since April.

Department spokesperson Elija Mhlanga declined to comment, saying the vaccination rollout was handled by the Department of Health.

He also didn't respond to a question on whether the delay could possibly affect the full-time return of primary school learners on July 26.

Health Department spokesperson Popo Maja could not be reached but he this week insisted that the teachers' vaccination rollout was still in a planning stage.

Meanwhile, the Educators Union of SA called for all teachers, regardless of age, to have access to register for vaccination between June 17 and 25.

In a media statement, the union said: “The fact that the country is still under lockdown and that the virus keeps on revealing itself in different and strange strains that even some available vaccines cannot contain seem to be a lesser priority to our education leaders.

“Never mind that learners and teachers have already lost lives to the third wave of the pandemic.”