Western Cape ready to vaccinate social development sector

The Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Sharna Fernandez, is happy to confirm that the Western Cape Government is ready to rollout vaccinations in the social development sector in the province. This programme will be administered by the Western Cape Department of Health, commencing this Thursday, 22 July 2021.

This sector rollout will include all social service professionals, Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners and staff, as well as all those individuals working in social development facilities in the Western Cape.

This follows the announcement by the National Minister of Social Development, Ms Lindiwe Zulu, on Sunday, 18 July 2021, that all social service professionals and support staff in the Department of Social Development will have a chance to get their Covid-19 vaccine as part of the National Vaccine Rollout Plan. Those eligible within the sector was determined by the National Government.

“I urge all those individuals who qualify to be vaccinated to make use of this special opportunity as the COVID-19 vaccination serves as our most effective way to fight the current pandemic, and to save lives.

This is an essential step in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, as we try to combat the negative impact the virus is having on education, the economy, health care and various other activities of a functional society,” said Minister Fernandez.

The following categories qualify to be vaccinated, as stipulated by the National Departments of Social Development and Health:

• All Social Service Professionals, both in government, the private sector and the NPO Sector rendering social services;
• Community Development Practitioners;
• The entire ECD workforce;
• All staff employed in the Departments of Social Development, SASSA, and the National Development Agency (NDA), nationwide.

Please note that the vaccination rollout programme is voluntary, however, we encourage all staff members to make use of this opportunity to vaccinate in Government’s endeavour to reach as many people as possible, and to protect ourselves from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I wish to thank all frontline workers in the Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners and staff, all social service professionals which includes social workers, auxiliary social workers including student social workers who are currently doing fieldwork, community development practitioners and frontline staff working in social development facilities for their ongoing commitment and devotion in helping us manage the spread of the virus and for remaining steadfast in delivering services to the people of the Western Cape. We are grateful and appreciative of all your efforts during these challenging times.

We urge the public to access credible information on https://www.westerncape.gov.za/department-of-health/coronavirus.

Source