South Africa has recorded 947 new COVID-19 cases taking total infections to 3 991 003. Four new COVID-19-related deaths have been recorded in the past 24-48 hours taking total fatalities to 101 717.
Active cases currently stand at 13 204.
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COVID-19 vaccines
Late-stage data on an experimental COVID-19 vaccine from Sanofi and GSK has shown the shot confers protection against the Omicron variant of the virus, the companies said on Friday.
The so-called bivalent vaccine targets the Beta variant as well as the original strain of the virus.
In a trial involving 13 000 adults, the vaccine demonstrated an efficacy rate of 64.7% against symptomatic COVID-19, and 72% efficacy against infections specifically caused by the Omicron variant.
When used in people who previously had COVID-19, the results were stronger. The vaccine generated an efficacy rate of 75.1% against symptomatic COVID19 and 93.2% in Omicron-confirmed symptomatic cases, the companies said.
“Sanofi-GSK’s vaccine is the first candidate to demonstrate efficacy in a placebo-controlled trial in an environment of high Omicron variant circulation,” Sanofi said in a statement.
Sanofi’s Paris-listed shares and GSK’s London-listed shares were both up more than 1% in morning trading.