Opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), on Wednesday called on the Department of Higher Education and Training to scrap mandatory vaccination policies at universities and other institutions of higher learning and training.

In a statement the party said the mandatory vaccination policies lack clarity and have already led to infrastructure destruction owing to violent protests at the Durban University of Technology and other institutions.

The DA argues that the adopted policies exclude students who remain unvaccinated for various reasons.

Currently, students are only allowed exemption from vaccination for religious and medical reasons.

The DA proposes a negative Covid-19 test no older than 72 hours; a recent antibody test; a positive Covid-19 test that is older than 14 days but no older than some specified period, as natural immunity does wane.

The DA said the State has not done enough to educate, counsel and reassure people about the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.

“It is also clear that mandatory vaccine policies ignore the evidence of some degree of natural protection through prior infection. Wits Professor of Vaccinology, Shabir Mahdi, has previously stated that 73% of the South African population has some degree of immunity,” the party said.

The DA suggests universities and training colleges allocate resources for vaccine education and counselling.

It says coercion will only further exacerbate distrust of vaccines.