Of the 642 staff members who responded to the online poll which ran for three weeks, 48.9% indicated they would take the vaccination, 29.5% said no and 21.6% were undecided.

Conversely, of the 5159 students who completed the poll, 42.1% responded negatively, 33.7% positively and 24.2% were undecided.

The poll findings, which also included anonymous hard-copy results from staff who do not have easy access to the internet, was conducted ahead of the University’s Vax Fax education campaign efforts to get a sense of the support for or against taking up the vaccination opportunity.

With the University expected to become an accredited vaccination centre and Phase 2 of the national vaccination rollout expected from late April or early May, a concerted education campaign is underway to enable both staff and students make an informed decision about the COVID-19 vaccination.

Vaccine and vaccination Information sharing sessions conducted by professional nursing staff are now underway in small mask-to-mask sessions and will be rolled out online in the weeks to come. Booklets providing basic information on vaccines and vaccination are available electronically in three languages, and hard copies are being given to the non-office bound staff after the training sessions.

Additionally, a dedicated Vaccine Rollout webpage with credible resources, free downloadable posters and with an opportunity to ask questions is in place. A weekly Vax Fax Information Series is being shared, and topical webinars are being hosted by the institution.

Coronavirus Task Team

Communication and Marketing