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SA passes 9-million Covid-19 vaccine mark, but more than 500 virus deaths recorded in 24 hours

There were 175,095 vaccine doses administered in the past 24 hours, meaning that 9,002,052 jabs had been administered as of 5pm on Wednesday. File photo.
There were 175,095 vaccine doses administered in the past 24 hours, meaning that 9,002,052 jabs had been administered as of 5pm on Wednesday. File photo.
Image: SUNDAY TIMES/SEBABATSO MOSAMO

SA administered its nine-millionth Covid-19 vaccination on Wednesday, making a positive milestone in the country's battle to stem the coronavirus.

But while this was an important victory, the number of new Covid-19 related deaths recorded in the past 24 hours — 573, according to the health department and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases — is a reminder that the fight is far from over.

The NICD said on Wednesday said that there were 7,502 new Covid-19 cases identified in SA in the past 24 hours, meaning that there had now been 2,554,240 total cases recorded to date. The new cases came at a positivity rate — the number of positive outcomes against the number of tests taken in the same period — of 18.9%.

The 573 newly reported fatalities mean that there have now been 75,774 confirmed Covid-19 related deaths across SA since the outbreak of the virus in March 2020.

Of the new cases, the most were in KwaZulu-Natal (26%, or 1,979 cases), followed by the Western Cape (23%, or 1,706 cases), Gauteng (17%, or 1,273 cases) and the Eastern Cape (13%, or 999 cases).

There are 14,743 people being treated for Covid-19 related illnesses in the country's hospitals, after 459 new admissions were recorded in the past 24 hours.

On a positive note, however, there were 175,095 vaccine doses administered in the past 24 hours, meaning that 9,002,052 jabs have now been given, as of 5pm on Wednesday.

Of these, 1,961,997 are the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, while 1,877,572 people have received both of the double-dose Pfizer jabs, and 5,162,483 people have received their first Pfizer shot.

TimesLIVE


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