Home Affairs staff, on the front line during pandemic, get vaccinations

The drive to inoculate 8,443 home affairs employees, who have been on the front line facing customers during the coronavirus pandemic, is under way.

Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who has received his two jabs, said the rollout of the vaccination programme kicks off in earnest in the department this week.

“Vaccinations saves lives. Even though vaccination is voluntary, employees are encouraged to vaccinate to lessen the impact of Covid-19 on the entire population. Additional to the vaccination, we need to continue to follow non-pharmaceutical precautionary interventions such as wearing masks properly, sanitising hands regularly and observing appropriate social distancing,” said Motsoaledi, who is a medical doctor.

The department has lost 40 employees to Covid-19, and another 1,389 were “adversely impacted”.  Some have also lost their parents and siblings to the pandemic and its associated complications.

“These are colleagues, mothers, fathers and agents of service delivery who have been part of those employees who could not work from home. Even during level 5 of the lockdown, they had to face the brunt of the pandemic to serve members of our community amid very difficult circumstances,” said Motsoaledi.

TimesLIVE