Article by: Dumisane Dube
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has urged all South Africans over the age of 18 to get vaccinated against COVID-19, as he announced that the country is expected to enter a fourth wave of the virus in November.
Phaahla updated the nation on efforts to fight COVID-19 and government’s vaccination rollout plans on Friday during a virtual briefing.
“We have opened vaccinations for everybody above 18 years old. We urge everybody to please come forward so that we can all be protected. We know that it is almost accepted that somewhere towards the end of the year, we will have the fourth wave and we want to make sure that all South Africans are protected against that by taking the vaccination,” he said.
According to the Minister, the number of vaccines administered on Thursday was an indication that the health sector is able to reach its target of administering 300 000 vaccinations per day.
“As of yesterday, the female vaccinated population was 58.5% and the male was at 41.5%. So there’s and improvement on the male uptake, which we really encourage. The last seven days have shown that as a country, we do have the capacity to administer vaccines and we do have the necessary supplies. It shows that we can indeed reach the… target which has been set for us by President Cyril Ramaphosa,” he added.
A total of 8.8 million South Africans have received at least one vaccination, with 5 450 000 fully vaccinated.
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