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The DA calls for the Department of Higher Education to scrap mandatory vaccination policies at universities and other institutions of higher learning and training.

While the DA strongly supports voluntary vaccinations, we do not believe in policies of mandatory vaccinations.

The Department has yet to clarify the application of mandatory vaccination in institutions of higher learning, yet many have adopted mandatory vaccination policies with limited scope for exceptions, which exclude multitudes of students who may wish to remain unvaccinated for various reasons. Currently, students are only allowed exemption from vaccination for religious and medical reasons.

This lack of clarity from the Department and the universities’ harsh mandates have already led to violent protests at the Durban University of Technology and other institutions of higher education in South Africa, resulting in millions of rands of infrastructure destruction.

We are calling on all public institutions of higher learning to adopt more inclusive alternatives to vaccinations as the current polices exclude students from education.

The following alternatives will ensure safe learning spaces at institutions without excluding students from their studies:

• Negative Covid-19 test no older than 72 hours;
• A recent antibody test;
• A positive Covid-19 test that is older than 14 days but no older than some specified period, as natural immunity does wane.

According to surveys, one of the most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy is a fear of the side effects. The ANC government’s woeful lack of education in this regard is to blame. The State has not done enough to educate, counsel and reassure people about the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines.

It is also clear that mandatory vaccine policies ignore the evidence of some degree of natural protection through prior infection. Wits Professor of Vaccinology, Shabir Mahdi, has previously stated that 73% of the South African population has some degree of immunity.

Rather than vilifying unvaccinated students and excluding them, the DA believes that universities and training colleges should allocate resources for vaccine education, counselling and offering easy access. Coercion will only further exacerbate distrust regarding the vaccines.

Issued by DA Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Chantel King MP & DA Member of Parliament's Portfolio Committee for Higher Education, Dr Ntombi Khumalo MP