The KwaZulu-Natal Education Department says it has run out of vaccines that were reserved for teachers and support staff in the Umkhanyakude, Pinetown and Umlazi districts.
Speaking to SABC News, MEC Kwazi Mshengu says 60 500 teachers have been vaccinated since Wednesday. There are 127 000 teachers on the provincial department’s database who are eligible to receive the vaccine.
The MEC says teachers from these districts who have not yet received their vaccines must wait until more doses arrive later this week
“We want to request that these educators should not present themselves to these vaccination sites because we ran out of doses in those districts. When we were given the first batch of doses in KwaZulu-Natal, they were just over 69 000 that we got and in three days we managed to vaccinate 60 500 educators and support staff. So we’ve made the request with the national offices for additional doses, but up until today there has not been any confirmation as to when will they be delivered in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.”
Mshengu has applauded teachers and support staff for their swift response to the vaccination process.
“It has really been amazing, educators and support staff have come out in numbers to vaccinate, in fact, we have seen those who were not scheduled to present themselves in the previous days actually presenting themselves in the fear that we may completely run out of doses before they get vaccinated. So the response has really been amazing and quite positive and we want to thank all the stakeholders involved, the unions, the SGBs the Department of Health because we have really been quite vigorous in terms of our advocacy and sending a proper message. What is important to note is that educators themselves are teachers of the nation.”
