Staff jump to get vaccinated
- Wits University
Wits staff happy about the arrangement to support vaccination drive.
Jabulile Kubheka wasted no time to get the jab following the announcement that Wits employees can get vaccinated conveniently at Gallagher Convention Centre.
Kubheka was among the group of Wits staff who left campus on Wits buses on Thursday, 29 July 2021, to get the Covid-19 vaccine in Midrand.
“I feel relieved, and the process was very quick”, says Kubheka, a Customer Care Supervisor at the Property and Infrastructure Management located on Braamfontein Campus West.
The opportunity for vaccination through Wits came just in time, as Kubheka had registered on the government’s EVDS system and was awaiting the SMS advising on the date and location to get the jab.
Equally elated to be vaccinated already is Ntabiseng Nzimade, an Occupational Health, Safety and Environmental Officer who seized the opportunity that Wits offered after reports that areas closest to her had long queues. Her urgency to be vaccinated was driven by the fact that her family had Covid-19 earlier this year and Nzimande wants to protect herself and her family from severe Covid-19 illness and death.
Nkululeko Mhlongo was in the company of his colleagues from Protection Services as the Wits bus ferried staff back and forth to Gallagher. For months, he has been listening to the news and believes that this helped ease his anxiety about the jab.
“Prof. Madhi [Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences] has been sharing a lot of information and I trust what he says more than the stories circulating,” says Mhlongo.
Mhlongo believes that many people are still reluctant to get vaccinated due to the myths about the consequences of the vaccine.
Health experts have been hard at work explaining how the vaccine works and answering questions from the public. Read everything you need to know about the vaccine, written by Wits scientists. The article answers key questions such as how the vaccines works, the safety of the vaccines, the differences between the Pfizer and J&J vaccines (which are the Covid-19 vaccines being used mostly in SA), how long it takes to get protection after vaccinating, and whether there are people who should not get the vaccine.
Sebolai Mohope from the Wits School of Education welcomed the initiative by Wits to enable vaccination for staff: “I wish to appreciate the care that our institution shows to employees. For this very kind gesture I, as Wits alumnus and current sessional staff member, a very big thank you and appreciation. Fortunately, I have already had both my jabs.” [The Pfizer vaccine is a two-shot regimen; J&J is one jab].
Wits University announced on Tuesday that staff who are 35 years and older now have the opportunity to be transported to Gallagher Convention Centre to receive the Covid-19 vaccine from Discovery healthcare professionals during dedicated time slots. The dedicated time slots available to Wits University staff are available until Tuesday, 3 August. Click here to book a place to get your Covid-19 vaccine at Gallagher Convention Centre by Tuesday, 3 August.