Professor of Vaccinology at Wits University Shabir Madhi says the COVID-19 third-wave could be less severe provided the virus does not mutate into yet another new, more dangerous variant. He was addressing the media in Johannesburg as part of the Gauteng COVID Command council on Friday.
He predicts that the COVID-19 third wave will hit Gauteng in three weeks time. He says some people in Gauteng have some resistance after being infected in the past.
Madhi says people should nevertheless be vaccinated. He says there’s a need to speedily roll out the vaccination programme, especially in high-risk groups.
“The target is to get 40-million people vaccinated. In fact, we don’t need to get 40-million people to get to a relatively normal lifestyle. What we need to do is get 80 to 90% of the high-risk groups vaccinated. And if we can do that we can get back to a normal lifestyle. COVID-19 is going to be here for the rest of our lifetime, we need to be comfortable with that. But it is about protecting people from dying. And it is about preventing our hospitals from being overwhelmed and the way to do that is to vaccinate high-risk individuals.
INFOGRAPHIC: South Africa showing signs of imminent COVID-19 third wave:
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SA records over 2 000 COVID cases in last 24 hours
South Africa recorded more than 2 000 new coronavirus cases for the third day in a row. The country has since the last reporting period recorded 2 256 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the cumulative number of cases in the country to 1 592 626.
The death toll has climbed to 54 687 after 67 new deaths were also reported on Friday.
Most of the new fatalities are from the Limpopo, which has recorded 26 deaths.
“Today, 67 more COVID-19 related deaths have been reported: Eastern Cape 1, Free State 0, Gauteng 13, KwaZulu-Natal 5, Limpopo 26, Mpumalanga 2, North West 0, Northern Cape 10 and Western Cape 10; which brings the total to 54 687 deaths. We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased patients,” says Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, in a statement.
Below are the latest COVID-19 stats:
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