Durban – It's gloves off as KwaZulu-Natal gears up to launch a massive vaccination drive over the festive season. KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala said the province would launch the “mother of all vaccination drives” to stem the tide of the fourth wave of Covid-19.
“The Executive Council noted with great concern that the high rate of infection has catapulted the province into the fourth wave,” Zikalala said.
To date, KZN has 9 777 active Covid-19 cases. Overall, the province has 526 306 confirmed Covid cases, with 14 804 deaths. According to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, KZN contributes around 10% to the total number of cases in the country.
Zikalala said they were concerned about the low number of of vaccinated people in the province.
He invited all sectors of society, from churches, traditional leaders, izinduna, NGOs, NPOs community structures, entertainment and sports personalities to join hands as the province prepares to launch the mother of all vaccination programmes across all districts in the province.
“The provincial government once again takes this opportunity to urge the public to vaccinate, as this is a very effective line of defence that enables the vaccinated body to fight the virus and prevent Covid-19 complications, severe illness or death,” he said.
The Department of Health said more than 26 million vaccinations had been delivered.
So far, just over 65% of the country's 60+ age group had received at least one dose of the vaccine, edging the country closer to its target of 70% of adults of 50+ (vaccinated) with one shot of vaccine.
Thus far, SA has covered around 63% of adults nationally.
IOL