South Africa exits Covid 19 fifth wave

Senior Researcher at the CSIR, Dr Ridhwaan Suliman, says the number of cases in fifth wave of coronavirus in South Africa has peaked at 33 percent of that of the fourth wave. South Africa appears to be exiting the fifth wave of the virus which was driven by the BA 4 and BA 5 sub variants of Omicron.

Dr Suliman says in a tweet that hospitalisations were 35 percent of the fourth wave and reported deaths just 15 percent of the fourth wave. Well over 100 thousand people have died from COVID 19 in South Africa. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus is to get vaccinated.

Fourth jab

To assist, Government is offering an additional booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine to people 50 years and older whose last vaccination was at least 120 days ago. The Health Department says in a statement that eligible people will be able to receive the additional booster dose from today. It says the Pfizer jab has been shown to be safe and effective against the coronavirus.