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11/05/2021

Nelson Mandela University will be sharing its own vaccination rollout plans to staff and students in the second of its VAX FAX Conversations webinar series at midday on Monday, 17 May.

The heads of both the University’s Student Health and Occupational Health service teams, Sisters Valencia Benjamin and Althea Hawkins respectively, will provide an overview of what staff and students can expect on its North Campus in Summerstrand, Gqeberha, and also at its George Campus.

Both sites are presently undergoing an accreditation process by the Department of Health to become vaccination centres in preparation for Phase 2 of the national rollout.

The University’s Centre for Community Technologies head Professor Darelle van Greunen who sits on both the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and provincial vaccination task teams will facilitate the webinar.

Joining the panel will also be two additional staff members and two Mandela University Faculty of Health Science students, all of whom have been vaccinated as part of Phase 1 of the national rollout.

Each will share their own experiences of receiving the COVID-19 jab.

One of the panelists has already had COVID-19, while another, as a frontline worker, was desperate to have the vaccine because she feared she would transmit the virus to an elderly parent.

The nursing sisters will also offer insights on the different vaccines – the one-jab Johnson and Johnson and the two-jab Pfizer – and take viewers through the vaccination process from registration through to post-vaccination monitoring.

The University will be asking its staff and students to forward their vaccination questions ahead of the webinar to ensure that as many concerns as possible are covered. There will also be a time for questions and answers in the one-hour session.

This webinar follows one held late in February at which the Metro’s plans were shared and health workers gave insights on what to expect. This webinar is available for viewing on our Webinar site.

The webinars form part of a bigger VAX FAX campaign to create awareness and provide education about vaccines and vaccination process thereby enabling staff and students to make an informed decision. All relevant information is housed on the University’s COVID-19 website.

To join next Monday’s webinar go to https://is.gd/vaxfax2

Contact information
Mrs Debbie Derry
Deputy Director: Communication
Tel: 041 504 3057
debbie.derry@mandela.ac.za