Over the past couple of weeks we have been covering the slow rate at which the National Department of Health’s (NDoH) Sisonke Protocol vaccine rollout has been administered, with its goal of inoculating 1.5 million healthcare workers by the end of April to combat COVID-19 in South Africa highly unlikely at this stage.
While we await news on an adjusted timeline for the rollout, the NDoH has confirmed that 20 million vaccines have been secured via Pfizer, adding that a final tranche of 200 000 Johnson & Johnson single jab vaccines are expected to land in the country on 10th April.
“In preparation for the mass vaccination campaign, we have undertaken a deep study of the Sisonke Protocol to draw lessons from the programme and enhance the efficiency of future operations,” writes Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize.
“We have also continued to engage stakeholders across all sectors to sensitise ourselves to the needs of various communities,” he adds.
The latest vaccine update is appreciated, but it looks like the second and third phases of the rollout will only be happening much later in the year than initially anticipated. As such, citizens will need to continue to be vigilant in fighting the spread of COVID-19.
Looking at the latest report from the NDoH, the total number of cases to date now sits at 1 552 853, as 437 new infections have been recorded over the past 24 hours. The recovery rate remains at 95 percent, while 272 438 vaccines have been administered to date. Other key statistics sees 37 new fatalities recorded over the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to date to 53 032.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
| Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
| Western Cape | 283 513 | 266 948 | 16 565 | 11 476 |
| Eastern Cape | 195 515 | 183 948 | 11 567 | 11 371 |
| Northern Cape | 36 641 | 33 009 | 2 859 | 825 |
| Free State | 83 789 | 78 393 | 5 396 | 3 676 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 334 600 | 318 596 | 16 004 | 10 236 |
| North West | 64 224 | 60 552 | 3 672 | 1 496 |
| Mpumalanga | 75 613 | 73 426 | 2 187 | 1 348 |
| Gauteng | 415 682 | 403 200 | 12 482 | 10 363 |
| Limpopo | 63 276 | 60 748 | 2 528 | 2 241 |
| Unknown | 0 | |||
| TOTAL | 1 552 853 | 1 478 820 | 74 033 | 53 032 |
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 Tommaso Pecchioli on Unsplash]
