The excitement around getting this vaccine was felt throughout our school from the moment we heard teachers would be elegable next. We got forms we needed to complete to let the department of education know if we are interested in getting the vaccine which at the time was only available to over 40’s.

To our surprise it was approved for all teachers a few days later and an email came through saying I would be part of the first batch of teachers going. The instructions was for us to bring our ID and medical aid card as well as other documentation that was sent to us.

On the morning of 29 June 2021 we arrived at school at 6:10am to board a bus our school kindly organised for us to head to Tygerberg Hospital to get our vaccine at 8:00am. There was 17 of us that was part of the first group from our school.

We arrived at Tygerberg at 7:15 and waited as the line started growing and staff arrived to set up. We were happy to wait and our spirits were high. Then the rain started and the staff scrambled to make some kind of provision for us. I would have expected them to have a rain plan in place but that wasn’t the end of the world. What’s a little rain between friends right?

The officials handed out stickers and numbered them so we all knew who would be next and then provided shelter in a tent for us to wait. When our numbers were called we were escorted into the Disa Hall where our screening documentation was checked and we were seated to move to the entrance. Once inside they registered us on to the system to get our info stickers and we joined another line. There was a lot of officials to help guide the people. I suspect the person in charge of bringing the signage was late as those only went up when we were almost done. Luckily there was enough people knowing what to do.

Eventually when we got to the front of the row we were directed to sectioned off both areas. We were helped one at a time by two sisters. One was capturing our personal details and the other getting our vaccination ready. I love that spirits were still high and the ladies seemed to enjoy what they were doing. The actual injection took less than a minute.

We were then moved to an observation area where we waited just over 15 minutes to see if we had any side effects. Straight after receiving my injection I felt a burning sensation but within the 15 minutes it subsided. We were then sent to a final station where the last of our details was captured. We waited about 2.5hours in total. Once we moved inside the whole process took a little more than an hour. We were able to go back to school after and finish our working day without any issues.

A few tips, make sure you dress warm and take an umbrella incase it rains. Make sure to also have some water or a snack on hand as I think the wait may be longer if you go later in the day.

All in all the process was seamless and if it wasn’t for the rain I think it might have been even better.

I’d love to hear if you are keen on going to get your vaccine.