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CAPE TOWN. – The University of Cape Town will require all staff and students to be vaccinated against Covid-19 from January, its council said on Wednesday.

Details of the plan are expected in December, making Africa’s top-ranking university the first in the country to require proof of vaccination in order to access the campus.

South Africa launched electronic vaccination certificates this month and is debating whether to make inoculation mandatory for certain events. Only fully jabbed football fans were allowed to attend the match between South Africa and Ghana last week, the first time spectators have attended a sporting event in the republic since the coronavirus pandemic struck early last year.

Two major companies – financial services group Sanlam and medical aid provider Discovery – have meanwhile asked all staff to be immunised by 2022.

The University of Cape Town Council said it had asked the executive to “develop the operational details” for approval in December.

The decision was partly based on a survey of staff and students in which most respondents supported a mandatory vaccine policy, it said. – AFP