Health
With respect to the Department’s COVID-19 vaccination programme at schools:
(1) Which schools currently have vaccination facilities on their premises and (b) what challenges has her Department experienced in this regard;
(2) whether there are any communication campaigns being implemented to encourage vaccinations at schools?
1. All districts and sub-districts work closely with their counterparts in Education and with the school principals to offer a vaccination service at schools. The school-based service is available to the learners, educators, staff members, parents and members of the public.
It is the responsibility of the school to distribute the consent form and the COVID-19 vaccination information leaflets are distributed to parents and caregivers together with the consent form. In most instances, the schools provide a venue on the premises on the day of vaccination. Where space or staffing is a challenge, learners are transported to clinics to receive their vaccinations there. A couple of the rural teams also make use of Mobiles to deliver the service to smaller schools.
Vaccination schedules are prepared in conjunction with the schools. Demand creation activities take place, and vaccine related information is shared with the learners and staff members before the time. Despite the reported low uptake of vaccinations at schools, learners are continuously encouraged to consider the alternative of visiting a vaccine site or a clinic where the service has been integrated into routine care.
2. Challenges:
- A small number of principals/ staff members have not bought into this programme and as a result will not distribute the consent forms or support the efforts of the local health teams.
- All the districts are experiencing issues around the consent forms; incorrectly completed, not signed, few forms are returned, or it takes a long time for signed forms to be returned to school resulting in delays in vaccination.
- There is a lot of vaccine hesitancy in the communities despite continued efforts to promote and create awareness around vaccinations.
- The antivaccination movement is active in communities and directing their messaging at parents and caregivers of school going children.
The Department plans to overcome these challenges by raising renewed awareness in the communities regarding vaccinations from age 12 years through its soon-to-be-launched revamped awareness campaign via local newspapers, radio stations, community activations, social media, local JOCs, and social mobilisation of faith-based organisation, civil society, etc.
