Johannesburg – More than 2.8 million people have been vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus in Gauteng, the province’s Health Department said on Wednesday.
It said the number of patients hospitalised remained 4 258, while 952 more people have been infected with the virus in the province in the past 24 hours.
Infections in Gauteng have been on a gradual decline under the adjusted level 3 of the lockdown which was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the start of August.
Gauteng Health spokesperson Kwara Kekana said the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in he province, as of Tuesday, stood at 899 601.
This as more than 870 903 people have recovered from the virus, and over 18 459 have succumbed to the virus.
“A total number of 4 258 people are currently hospitalised in the public and private facilities,” said Kekana.
Kekana said 1 900 people were hospitalised in the public sector hospitals, while another 2 310 people were in private facilities.
In terms of vaccinations, Kekana said over 2.8 million had been vaccinated against the virus to date.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura last week expressed that he was not happy with the number of vaccinations that was taking place in the province and wanted more people to take their jabs.
The under 35-year-old group have provided a boost in the government's mass vaccination drive, while on Tuesday, a pilot programme which would see minibus taxis ferry the elderly – those over 50 – kicked off in parts of Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The pilot is expected to run until September 4 before a decision is taken on whether to roll it out to all provinces.
The Gauteng provincial government and the SABC also announced on Wednesday that the public broadcaster’s headquarters in Auckland Park would be used as a pop-up vaccination site from Thursday until Saturday.
Gauteng is allowing walk-ins at vaccination sites for people to be get their jabs, regardless of whether they have been registered on the EVDS system or not.
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