Dear UJ Community,

The past two years have been extremely challenging for many of us, because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 and the resultant lockdown restrictions. It required us to adopt a Mandatory Vaccination Policy to get back to some form of normalcy on our campuses. This required extraordinary efforts from our staff and students, as well as the wider UJ community. We thank you all for the sacrifices during the pandemic.

On this note, we wish to inform you that, in consultation with and approval of the UJ Council, we will be relaxing some of our Mandatory Vaccination Policy stipulations and Implementation Protocol.

Specifically, we will with effect from Friday, 24 June 2022, be suspending the following requirements:

• to wear masks indoors on our campuses; and
• to present proof of vaccination or a weekly negative PCR test to gain access to our campuses.

Additionally, we will also be increasing the occupancy of our facilities in an orderly manner.

The above decision was predominantly informed by our current COVID-19 risk profile which is evidenced by the low infections and low covid-related deaths as well as our   high vaccination rates amongst our staff and students.  We once again express our great appreciation to all of you for getting vaccinated.

It must be noted that in order to access our clinics and other healthcare facilities you will still be required to wear a mask. Unvaccinated staff, postdoctoral research fellows and students who were granted an exemption from mandatory vaccination no longer need to present a negative PCR test in order to access the University’s premises and events.

However, as the COVID-19 virus is still in circulation, we urge you to continue to take precautionary steps to minimise the spread and avoid disruptions of our learning and teaching and sporting and extramural activities. Please avoid close contact with others if you might be infected, keep up to date with COVID vaccinations, wear a mask when you have any of the COVID systems and respect others who choose to wear masks.

Should there be an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections and in the resultant risk to our staff, students and third parties, the University may be required to reinstate the suspended measures.

We again wish to thank you for your cooperation and support over the last two years, as we look forward to the future with more excitement.

 University of Johannesburg             

Times mentioned in this newsletter refer to the South African time-zone.