WATCH | Vaccination of teachers underway in Western Cape

• Debbie Schafer has urged teachers to get vaccinated. 
• There will be 27 smaller vaccine sites across the province.
• The sector rollout is expected to end on 8 July. 

It's all systems go for the Western Cape government's plan to start the vaccination of teachers.

On Wednesday, over 50 workers in the educational sector received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Pinelands, Cape Town.

Education MEC Debbie Schafer urged teachers to get vaccinated.

"I urge every one of our eligible basic education sector staff members to take this opportunity to contribute to getting our schools back to some semblance of normality. We have lost so many to this pandemic. Let us do all we can to keep our staff – and our schools – safe."

Schafer said she was aware of vaccine hesitancy among some teachers.

"There has been some anxiety and the pandemic has been hard on our schools and on our teachers. I'd like to reiterate the call for teachers to be vaccinated... 75% of our teachers have already agreed that they would take the vaccine."

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Vaccinations in the education sector is set to increase to 1 100 a day at the metro vaccine site.

Vaccines at the Tygerberg Hospital site will be ramped up to 1 400 per day.

There will also be 27 smaller sites across the province.

The sector rollout is expected to end on 8 July.

The first staff members to be vaccinated were Eugenia Paulo-Goagoses, from Masiphatisane Primary School on the West Coast, and Riefqah Sasman, from Heideveld Secondary School.

Paulo-Goagoses travelled all the way from Vredenburg. She is a former winner of the provincial Teaching Award for Excellence in Primary School Teaching.

Sasman is also a former winner of a provincial Teaching Award for Excellence in Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning, and is well-known for her work in online teaching and learning.

She was a finalist in the News24 Super School competition.

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The head of education department, Brent Walters, said the sector had taken a huge knock during the pandemic.

"The education sector has suffered great learning losses over the past 15 months, and it will be felt for years to come. This is a major step towards recovery and the provision of better learning opportunities for our learners. We can only see the positive in this and are excited for its rollout."

The province received approximately 55 200 Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

The province is expecting another consignment for teachers next week.