Johannesburg - With the threat of a fourth wave looming in November, the Gauteng Provincial Government has called on residents to vaccinate, setting a target of at least 10 million vaccinations by December.
The province was, this week, singled out as one of the provinces that have missed their vaccine targets, with Deputy President David Mabuza and members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Vaccines descending on the West Rand in Mogale City, where 8% of adults in that municipality have vaccinated against the coronavirus, which has, since last year, claimed over 80 000 lives in South Africa.
“COVID-19 vaccines protect against severe illness, hospitalisation and death in the event one contracts the coronavirus.
“The more people who vaccinate, the quicker we can return to a normal life. We have seen a semblance of normality in countries where mass population has been vaccinated.
“South Africa needs to vaccinate 70% of the adult population by mid December 2021- so that we can accelerate the implementation of our Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.
“Gauteng's economic recovery depends on vaccinating as many people as fast as possible. This is why we need to vaccinate 10 million people by mid December 2021,” the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) said in a statement, on Friday.
The GPG warned that a fourth wave of the virus was likely to hit in November, and thus called on as many people in the province, to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“With the country expected to enter a fourth wave of the virus in November, we need to get as many people vaccinated in order to minimise its impact.
“All persons 18 years and older are encouraged to visit their vaccination site to receive the jab,” the GPG said.
Meanwhile, the Gauteng weekly update on Covid-19 report showed that there were just over 7 300 active cases in the province, as of Thursday night.
It also showed that the City of Tshwane’s region 3, which includes areas such as Atteridgeville, Hercules and the Pretoria CBD, had the most active cases in the province - with over 800 in the combined area.
In terms of hospital admissions, there were just over 3 472 people hospitalised in the province, with 1 509 patients in the public sector, while another 1 973 were in the private sector hospitals. Among these, there were just over 895, who were in either high care or intensive care units in both the public and private sector hospitals.
In terms of vaccinations, 3.3 million people have, so far, vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Selected vaccination sites in all regions are open on Saturday and Sunday.
IOL