Last night the first batch of Johnson & Johnson single jab vaccines landed at OR Tambo International Airport. It is only 80 000 of the 9 million that government has secured from the pharmaceutical company, so a high-volume rollout is still to happen. As such, the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa in the interim continues.

The latest report from the National Department of Health (ND0H) shows that the number of new infections is steadily decreasing, with 1 210 recorded over the past 24 hours. Whether this increases as we get closer to the weekend, however, remains to be seen.

Regardless, the total number of infections to date has risen to 1 494 119, with 1 396 951 recoveries, as the recovery rate increases slightly to 93.5 percent.

Unfortunately though, the number of new fatalities has also picked up, with 219 reported across the country over the past 24 hours. This pushes the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa to 48 313.

With an estimated 41 million vaccines slated for the country, 20 million of which is only a commitment from Pfizer and not fully secured yet, it looks like it will still be some time until the general population can begin its stage of the rollout plan. As fears over a potential third wave grow as the seasons change, the NDoH is required to act as swiftly as possible.

The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:

As always, in order to stay up to date with the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa and abroad, we advise the following materials and platforms:

• Dr Zweli Mkhize on Twitter
• COVID-19 Connect on WhatsApp – add 0600 123 456 as a contact and say “Hi”.
• World Health Organisation
• SA Coronavirus website
• SA Government
• SA Presidency

[Image – Photo by Macau Photo Agency on Unsplash]