Health minister Joe Phaahla has recommended SA remain on alert level three, and will propose that government's coronavirus council and cabinet uphold restrictions.
Phaahla, whom president Cyril Ramaphosa promoted to health minister last week, said it was “no time to lift restrictions” as the country remained in the grip of a third wave of Covid-19 infections. His co-operative government and traditional affairs counterpart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has already extended the national state of disaster to September 15.
“We will be recommending that we remain at level three,” said Phaahla. He said the Western Cape had recorded the highest level of daily infections, active cases and hospitalisations in the past week.
He said almost 4-million adults were fully vaccinated as of Thursday, August 12, with Gauteng leading with the most doses administered at 1.8-million.
He said government aimed to vaccinate 70% of SA's adult population of almost 40-million by the end of 2021.
The more people are vaccinated, the more government opens up for economic, social, religious, sport and travel activities, he said.
The briefing's panel urged SA men to vaccinate against Covid-19, saying 60% of those vaccinated to date were women. Men lagged behind in all age brackets.
The minister also singled out two mainly rural provinces — Limpopo and the Eastern Cape — for leading in the vaccination drive of the adult population. About 23.3% of the population in the Eastern Cape and 20.8% in Limpopo have been vaccinated. “It’s very gratifying to see that the rural provinces are leading vaccination,” he said.
Phaahla said vaccination drive at workplaces — including farms, mines and factories — had helped the cause.
“The vaccines we are using are safe and effective ... vaccines really protect life,” he said. The health department's study of deaths that happened soon after vaccinations showed they were due to pre-existing illnesses, or infections acquired before receiving the vaccine, said Phaahla.
Deputy director-general in the health department, Nicholas Crisp, told the same briefing that a delivery of 1.5-million Pfizer doses was expected in the next week and almost 4-million doses of the Johnson & Johnson jab were set to arrive in the last two weeks of August.
In the last quarter of 2021, he said, the department anticipated 28-million vaccination doses would be delivered. “We’ve lost impetus in the vaccine programme ... every province has lost momentum,” Crisp said.
A nationwide slowdown in daily vaccinations demanded urgent attention, he said. After a strong start, registrations among those aged 35 to 49 have lagged.
“We are disappointed that registrations are decreasing,” said Crisp. Only a quarter of all adults aged 35 to 49 were registered, while less than half those aged 50 to 59 years had signed up for the jab. “Vaccination capacity is strong.Now we need vaccine demand,” said Crisp.
According to government figures, only 53,000 people registered for vaccination on Thursday. Crisp cautioned should the number of vaccinated men not improve, many would end up very sick in hospital by late December .
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