Cape Town – A total of 6 141 new Covid-19 cases have been identified in South Africa since the last report.
The cumulative number of Covid-19 cases identified has risen to 1 443 939, said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize in a statement last night.
There have been 528 more Covid-19 related deaths: KwaZulu-Natal 195, Gauteng 126, Eastern Cape 95, Western Cape 52, Mpumalanga 23, Limpopo 16, Northern Cape 11 and Free State 10. This brings the total number of deaths to 43 633.
The number of recoveries now stand at 1 284 781, representing a recovery rate of 89%. The cumulative total of tests conducted to date is 8 203 584, with 47 345 new tests recorded since the last report.
Johnson & Johnson says its single-dose vaccine was 66% effective in preventing Covid-19 in a large global trial against multiple variants.
In the trial of nearly 44 000 volunteers, the level of protection against moderate and severe Covid-19 varied from 72% in the US, to 66% in Latin America and just 57% in SA due to a worrying variant that has spread.
A high bar has been set by two authorised vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, which were around 95% effective in preventing symptomatic illness in pivotal trials when given in two doses.
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has called on health students to assist the Health Department with the Covid-19 vaccine rollout on a volunteer basis.
Speaking at a Higher Health webinar, Nzimande said the Health Department couldn't vaccinate 40 million people all by itself.
IOL