Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has warned that the COVID-19 fifth wave is likely to hit South Africa in winter or earlier, depending on the variants of concern.
“Only high coverage vaccination will reduce the emergence of more variants,” he said on Friday, during a media briefing.
The Minister announced that the country has now administered over 30 million vaccine doses as of Wednesday night.
In addition, South Africa has now distributed 646 466 booster shots.
The department’s data continue to show that the majority of those who are admitted to hospital are unvaccinated.
According to the Minister, vaccination sites remain open and ready to offer services including mobile and pop-up sites.
“Yesterday, we visited Ka-Maqxaki High School in Gqeberha to monitor vaccination and other health services and it was very impressive to see a sizeable queue of learners waiting to be vaccinated and very upbeat about it.”
Phaahla has once again appealed to South Africans to seize the opportunity of protecting themselves and those around them:
“While the fourth wave remains stable even though we are not completely out of it while the rate remains above 10%, we know that the virus is still very far from being eliminated. The only way to get closer to normality safely is if more of us vaccinate including taking boosters once we qualify.”
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