In the Eastern Cape, South Africa, a largely rural area, there are far more schools than there are health facilities. Schools are located in the heart of remote communities and were identified as ideal community COVID-19 vaccination sites. People more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 infection, such as the elderly and those living with chronic conditions, find it much easier to go to the local school to vaccinate as they do not have to travel long distances to reach the closest clinic. Some 68% of people over 60 living in remote areas in South Africa get their COVID-19 vaccinations at a school.
The Mzamba Senior Secondary School in Bizana was recently opened as a community vaccination site. Tshabangu Ngcaweni (64) went to receive his second COVID-19 vaccine. “I live just down the road. It was easy for me. At first, people here did not vaccinate, but many got very, very sick, and many lost their lives. I told people not to push the vaccine away, but to accept it and go to school.”
Lethabo Nyembezi (17) plans to study medicine when she leaves but is currently a learner who received her first vaccine at her school.
“It is good that my school is being used to vaccinate the community, especially older people,” she says. “The clinics are far, and transport is expensive. They cannot get there. We must not die from a disease that is preventable.” Nyembezi plans to study medicine when she leaves school.
The USAID-funded Accelerating Development Against Pandemic Threats (ADAPT) program is supporting COVID-19 vaccination in South Africa, with a focus on outlying areas, people over fifty and over sixty, and those living with chronic conditions.
Under ADAPT, over 1,100 schools in the Eastern Cape have been used as vaccination sites, and just over 64% of people over sixty years living in the region have been fully vaccinated.
Wendy Ovens heads the ADAPT program in the Eastern Cape. “Our teams quickly turn a school hall or room into a safe vaccination site. The elderly walk up the road to the school, and if they cannot walk, our ADAPT staff collect them or vaccinate them in their homes.”
Ovens adds, “Relationships with the departments of education and health have been central to the success of the school vaccine initiative. Without the support of the United States Government, this vaccination effort would not have been possible. COVID-19 vaccines are also being integrated into school vaccination programs, and routine health services.”
