We begin another week dealing with COVID-19 in South Africa, with government outlining its plans for vaccinations in the coming weeks, urging those aged 12 years and older who have not yet been vaccinated, to do so.

Whether South Africans will heed the call remains to be seen, but if we are to lessen the impact of future waves of infection, a population that is fully vaccinated will prove key.

For now, we have to contend with the current spread of the virus, with the country not fully out of the fourth wave just yet. To that end, the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) shows that infections are relatively low, but fatalities are a concern.

The past 24 hours has seen 1 931 cases reported, as the total number of infections to date for the country has reached 3 581 359. Looking at fatalities, 114 have been reported as the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa climbs to 94 177.

As for other key statistics, the recovery rate has increased to 95.3 percent, with more than 22.02 million tests having been conducted to date.

Shifting to the vaccine rollout, the past 24 hours has seen 5 120 jabs administered, owing to it being a Sunday. As of 17:00 on 23rd January 2022, a total of 29 369 021 vaccines have been administered.

The full outlook for COVID-19 in South Africa follows on below:

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:

• 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 30daysreplay Social Media Marketing on Unsplash]