Johannesburg – Teacher unions said that they were relieved to learn that 300,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses set aside for school staff would be arriving in the country on Friday.
According to the Health Department, more vials were expected to touch down in the coming weeks.
As primary schools are expected to return to normal daily classes from next month, government said that its target was to inoculate nearly half a million educators in 10 days.
Teacher unions are however breathing a sigh of relief as the vaccination programme for educators seems set to begin across the country.
On top of the 300,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccines, more jabs are said to arrive in the country to ensure educators are inoculated before primary school pupils returned to daily timetables.
Sadtu’s Mugwena Maluleke has welcomed the Johnson & Johnson doses.
“The 300,000 doses that are going to be availed for the teachers must be welcomed as one of the first line of defense,” Maluleke said.
Naptosa’s Basil Manuel said he is hoping more vaccines will be arriving in the country as soon as possible.
“So, we’ve already asked what is the possibility of leveraging additional doses because the 300,000 won’t cover all the education workers,” he said.
All school staff will qualify for the jabs and not just those age 40 and above.
