Gauteng has administered 3-million vaccines, the health department says, as the inoculation rollout expands through partnerships with the private sector and faith-based organisations.
Gauteng has 1,310,372 people who are fully vaccinated.
The province also saw a new record of 75,683 inoculations on a single day on Friday.
Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi said while the provincial government welcomes the milestones, “we still need to move with speed to vaccinate as many people as possible ahead of the anticipated fourth wave of Covid-19".
Over the last seven days, there has been a slight decrease in Covid-19 new cases nationally, with Gauteng seeing a consistent decrease in the number of new infections. However, with the risk of a resurgence, the government is concerned that the third wave seems to be lingering much longer and may overlap into the fourth wave.
“Given that the Covid-19 vaccines reduce people’s chances of getting severe illness and hospitalisation in the event they contract the coronavirus, all eligible people are urged to prioritise getting their jabs,” Mokgethi's office said in a statement.
National health minister Dr Joe Phaahla on Friday said SA’s third wave of Covid-19 infections is dragging on longer than expected and behaving differently from the first and second waves.
“By the time of the fourth wave, possibly driven by a new variant, it may find us still at the tail-end of the third wave,” he warned, encouraging people to observe the preventive measures of face masks, hand washing and social distancing.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Sunday 7,740 new Covid-19 cases had been identified in SA, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic to 2,764,931. This increase represents a 17.0% positivity rate.
1.3-million people fully vaccinated in Gauteng, as province reaches 3-million milestone
Gauteng has administered 3-million vaccines, the health department says, as the inoculation rollout expands through partnerships with the private sector and faith-based organisations.
Gauteng has 1,310,372 people who are fully vaccinated.
The province also saw a new record of 75,683 inoculations on a single day on Friday.
Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi said while the provincial government welcomes the milestones, “we still need to move with speed to vaccinate as many people as possible ahead of the anticipated fourth wave of Covid-19".
Over the last seven days, there has been a slight decrease in Covid-19 new cases nationally, with Gauteng seeing a consistent decrease in the number of new infections. However, with the risk of a resurgence, the government is concerned that the third wave seems to be lingering much longer and may overlap into the fourth wave.
“Given that the Covid-19 vaccines reduce people’s chances of getting severe illness and hospitalisation in the event they contract the coronavirus, all eligible people are urged to prioritise getting their jabs,” Mokgethi's office said in a statement.
National health minister Dr Joe Phaahla on Friday said SA’s third wave of Covid-19 infections is dragging on longer than expected and behaving differently from the first and second waves.
“By the time of the fourth wave, possibly driven by a new variant, it may find us still at the tail-end of the third wave,” he warned, encouraging people to observe the preventive measures of face masks, hand washing and social distancing.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Sunday 7,740 new Covid-19 cases had been identified in SA, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic to 2,764,931. This increase represents a 17.0% positivity rate.
A further 134 Covid-19 related deaths had been recorded in the 24-hour reporting cycle, bringing the total number of fatalities to date to 81,595.
The majority of new cases were from KwaZulu-Natal (29%), followed by the Western Cape (22%). The Eastern Cape accounted for 15%; Gauteng accounted for 8%; the Northern Cape 7%; Free State and Mpumalanga 6% each; North West 4%, and Limpopo 2%.
There was an increase of 127 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours, according to the Sunday update.
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