THE Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said it was on track to reach the target of vaccinating 55 200 staff in the education sector by Monday.
On Wednesday Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said the national department would request an extension from the Department of Health to prolong its vaccination programme after having increased its target of 582 000 staff to 789 000 to include janitors, food handlers and support staff from independent schools.
Last month the department had given itself until July 8 to complete vaccinations in the education sector and by Tuesday more than 400 000 staff had been vaccinated.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said they were on track to reach their target of more than 55 200 staff.
“As of 11am today, the Western Cape has achieved 61% of its target of 55 200 vaccinations for the education sector in the province. Around 33 798 educators and staff within the sector have been vaccinated,” she said.
“(And) 6 715 sector staff are scheduled for today (of which 2 009 had been vaccinated by 11am). Tomorrow (Thursday, 8 July 2021) 5 848 is scheduled, with the remaining staff scheduled for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.”
The Head of Department, Brent Walters, also received his vaccination as part of the head office schedule.
“I feel fantastic after my vaccine, it was a painless jab. I feel excited for our sector specifically that our teachers are taking this vaccine and we can make our children safe,” he said.
“We are over 60% of our rollout and we are well on our way to the more than 55 000 people in the education sector who will be vaccinated. We are really excited to reach this milestone.”
Weekend Argus