The students knew their South African university was the epicentre of a new COVID-19 variant spreading panic across the globe, but over the past week many worried more about how Omicron would mess up exams and holiday plans than about catching it.

At the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), in the capital Pretoria, learners languidly walked across the green campus shaded by trees, chatting, buying soft drinks, staring at their phones and sitting on benches overlooking a pond.

Most wore masks; a few didn’t. Many were vaccinated; some obstinately were not. Around 30 students interviewed by Reuters were mostly concerned about their classes being disrupted again. And whatever their opinions on the vaccine, the outbreak had done nothing to change their minds.

“This variant has messed us up. It means even more classes online, which makes it hard to learn,” management student Nqubeko Chisale, 21, said. “Sometimes the Internet link doesn’t work. I need to have the teacher in the room.”

Scientists are analysing Omicron to see if it evades the immunity conferred by vaccines or past illness.

The government meanwhile is pushing to try get as many people vaccinated as possible, while urging the cancelling of possible super-spreader events — like the big student parties and festivals popular this time of year.

Several have already been called off, including a music festival for young people on the coast, after 36 people tested positive for COVID-19 at the site.

Some early data seems to show more young people getting the severe symptoms typically suffered by their elders. But youths are also the least vaccinated: only a fifth of 18-34 year olds have had the shot, official data shows, partly owing to false beliefs about its safety proliferating on the Internet.

Chisale admits he belongs to the other four-fifths.

“So many things I’ve heard about the vaccine: it makes you sick, headache. Maybe someday, but I don’t think I’m ready,” he said, and he’s in no rush to change his mind, even with the fourth wave of COVID-19 surging through his campus.

‘TRYING TO PERSUADE HIM’

Other students successfully ignored the mountain of false vaccine information, like 20-year-nursing student Sinethemba Nkosi. She and her friends all got the shot, except one — and he was the only one of them who got sick in the latest wave. Nkosi never caught it from him, even though they share a house.

“I was really encouraging him to get the vaccine, but he was worried about the side effects,” she said of her friend, who since last week has been in bed with a fever. But her bigger concern was the delay of the exams she’d been itching to finish.

At a lunch table shaded by a tree outside the university cafeteria, supply chain management students Thato Letsholo and Nkanyiso Sithole ate pork chops, complained about virtual classes, and disagreed with each other about the vaccine.

Asked if he was worried about the disease itself, Letsholo said: “Yes. I mean it’s killing people”. But his far bigger fear was more dreaded online learning and having to repeat a year if his academic calendar keeps getting delayed.

Letsholo’s mother is a nurse, so she convinced him to get the shot. “I’ve been trying to persuade him,” he said, indicating his classmate, Sithole, who mumbled something about waiting to see how his friend who’d just had it would do before risking it.

Sitting on beer crates under a tree, Tshepo Legon and his sports science classmate, Long Matimelami, said nothing but draconian regulations would get them to inoculate.

“This thing of vaccines is rubbish. I don’t want to take it,” Legon said. “I don’t care about the new variant. If I catch it, I’ll just take my traditional remedies.”

AS the country heads into a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, we are experiencing a rate of infections that we have not seen since the pandemic started.

The Omicron variant that was brought to global attention by South African scientists nearly two weeks ago appears to be dominating new infections in most provinces.

Over the last week, the number of daily infections has increased five-fold. Nearly a quarter of all COVID-19 tests now come back positive. Compare this to two weeks ago, when the proportion of positive tests was sitting at around 2%.

Scientists in our country and around the world are still hard at work to answer critical questions about the new Omicron variant, such as its transmissibility, its progression, whether it causes more severe disease and how effective vaccines will be against it.

While the surge in infections is of great concern, we should remember that we anticipated it. Disease modellers in our country have told us that we would likely experience a fourth wave around this time and that it was almost inevitable that new variants of the virus would emerge.

As we enter the fourth wave, and as the country gears up for the festive season, the urgent priority is for more people to get vaccinated. Scientific evidence shows that vaccination is the most effective means of preventing the spread of new infections, and that vaccines reduce severe illness, hospitalisation and death.

South Africa now has sufficient supplies of vaccines and we have vaccine stations set up in every part of the country. As every day passes, and as infections rise, the reasons to get vaccinated become more compelling and the need becomes ever more urgent.

Vaccines are safe, and like all other routine vaccinations we received as children and against diseases like measles, they offer the most potent form of protection available.

Vaccination is essential for our economic recovery, because as more people are vaccinated more areas of economic activity will be opened up. We can do our work and socialise under less stringent restrictions, and our lives can return to some degree of normality.

As individuals, we must carefully consider the implications of the risk to ourselves of being unvaccinated and the risk of spreading the infection to our children, parents, relatives, co-workers and those we do not even know.

The massive surge in infections means that, in addition to vaccination, we need to be far more diligent in reducing our contact with people outside our household. Social distancing is difficult as the festive season approaches, but the evidence shows that gatherings – mainly those held indoors – carry the greatest risk of transmission. Many people have been disappointed by the cancellation of some big events in recent days, but it is by far the safest and most responsible thing to do now.

Fortunately, we all know what we need to do, such as wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding crowds. Now we just need to make sure that we do these things more consistently and without exception.

As we work with greater urgency to increase vaccination rates, we need to significantly up our game on prevention measures to ensure our collective safety.

We should not wait for new regulations before we reduce the size of the gatherings, as research has shown this to be an effective means of reducing the spread of the virus.

All public and private facilities, including workplaces, taxis, buses and trains, must ensure adequate ventilation to prevent the spread of the virus.

Every facility that serves the public has a legal responsibility to ensure that people practice social distancing. We must reinvigorate our masking programme, where we insist on no entry into any public or business facility without a mask.

While we do not yet know what impact the Omicron variant will have on hospital admissions, we have been preparing hospitals to admit more patients, and we are investigating how we can quickly secure medication for treating COVID-19.

In the coming days and weeks we will know more about the Omicron variant. At the same time, we are keeping a close eye on the rates of infection and hospitalisation.

We will soon be convening a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council to review the state of the pandemic. This will enable us to take whatever further measures are needed to keep people safe and healthy.

I call on all South Africans to go out and get vaccinated without delay. If necessary, take advantage of the Vooma Vaccination Weekends that make it easier to visit the facility closest to you.

Let us all play our part in South Africa’s social and economic recovery. Let us do the responsible and right thing for our own health and for the health of others.

* From the desk of the President

HTS N Diederichs THS boys are leaving the rest of Gauteng’s soccer players in the dust, racking up points and climbing the ranks each time they face off against another school.

Last month, November 13, the school’s U/15 team participated in the Pan Africa Schools Competition at the Greenhills Sport Stadium in Randfontein, and according to head coach Gift Seziba, they took on teams from Randfontein High School (RHS), Badirile Lodirile Secondary School, Rietvallei Secondary School and Wadela Technical High School. In the final match against Badirile Lodirile, HTS N Diederichs THS came out on top 7–0.

Gift explained that, “HTS N Diederichs THS qualified for the D12 Pan Africa Schools Competition and will be playing against other regional teams.

They’ll be representing the West Rand as they were the winners of the District play-offs. The matches will be played in the coming weeks, but the dates are yet to be confirmed. If the boys win in the Regionals, they’ll be going through to the Provincials.

 “I, coach Lebohang Dube, coach Tetelo Mogapi and soccer governor Adélle Nell have been strongly in support of the development of the boys’ soccer skills – mentally and physically as well as educationally, encouraging positive involvement in the school on a school sports level which will progress onto a regional, provincial and national level.”

Currently, the school is reaching out to more local businesses for sponsorships as they look to expand their sports in general. “We are the only school on the West Rand that had nine players go through at the district trials, and we’re the only school going to represent the West Rand at the Pan Africa Schools Regional Competition, going in undefeated,” Gift said.

Krugersdorp News

THE Nelson Mandela University has officially launched its medical school, a move the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation has described as the realisation of a long-held dream.

To mark the occasion on Tuesday, Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, extended his congratulations to the university for this landmark achievement of becoming the tenth medical school in the country.

“I would like to commend the university for the continued role that it plays in this region, through its excellent teaching and learning, research and community engagement programmes,” said Nzimande.

According to Nzimande, the establishment will promote local economic development within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, South Africa’s fifth-largest municipality.

He told the delegates that the country should be proud of the excellent teaching and learning facility dedicated to the training of future health professionals.

Nzimande also took the time to pay tribute to the late Professor Lungile Pepeta who died of COVID-19 last year for his enormous contribution in laying a strong foundation for this medical school.

“I hear you may name this after Prof Pepeta. I certainly think it would be highly appreciated.”

Although the school was launched today, Nzimande said the first cohort of students is nearing the end of their first year of study.

According to the Minister, the NMU Medical School, located at the Missionvale campus, aims to position health education to be more responsive to South Africa’s health needs by widening access to healthcare programmes.

“The school will generally add to the much-needed health professionals that our country so needs to improve our health system as a country.”

He said the establishment of the school has been long coming, dating back to 2013 when a business plan was first developed. The National Skills Fund subsequently pumped R73 million into it with the backing from the department.

“I am pleased that this new medical degree focuses on comprehensive primary health care from the first year of study.”

Nzimande said he was pleased that the school is planning to use global technological innovations to support interactive education.

“I also fully subscribe to the ethos of this medical school, which are firmly based on community and primary health care provision by developing health care professionals who are committed to providing accessible and affordable healthcare services.”

In addition, he announced that in the current financial year, the department has allocated R644.7 million for the clinical training of health professionals in the sector, of which R19 million will go to NMU.

“As you are aware, the country’s public hospitals are overstretched due to the scarcity of health professionals.”

In addressing these shortages, the department has been working closely with the Department of Health to equip the universities and clinical training platforms.

“We are committed to continuing with this important work to strengthen our health training and education in South Africa.”

THE annual post-matric Ballito Rage festival has been cancelled after 36 people tested positive for Covid-19.

“We take the safety of all our customers, staff and suppliers extremely seriously. It is for this reason that the event organisers have taken the decision to cancel the remainder of Ballito Rage,” organisers said in a statement on Wednesday.

Thousands of young people, many being matrics, attend this event annually to celebrate the end of their high school careers.

The post-matric festival opened on Tuesday with several Covid-19 protocols in place. However, after testing more than 1000 people, 32 cases were identified in guests and four in staff members.

Last year’s event has been widely considered as a super-spreader, after more than 800 people were infected with Covid-19.

Organisers said on Tuesday that all remaining staff and all guests underwent Covid-19 tests at the testing centre near the event site before entering the event.

“Between 2pm and 10pm, 940 guests and staff were tested and 32 guests and four staff presented positive results. The Department of Health was on site and worked together with our team to conduct contact tracing and ensure isolation of positive individuals and staff as per government protocols.”