South Africa Exits Third Wave, 21% of Adults Now Fully Vaccinated

Twenty-one percent of South Africa’s adult population is now fully vaccinated after 6 187 people either received a Johnson & Johnson shot or the second jab of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday.

According to the Health Department, South Africa administered 9 419 jabs in the past 24 hours, pushing the total to 16 827 790, while the country is now home to 8 391 620 vaccinated individuals.

Meanwhile, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the country has exited the third wave according to the current definition.

“The national seven-day moving average of daily case numbers, positivity rate and testing rate continue to decrease, with sustained decreases seen in all provinces,” the NICD explained.

Meanwhile, the latest data shows that the institute reported 967 new COVID-19 cases, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 896 943.

“This increase represents a 5% positivity rate,” the NICD said, adding that there has been an increase of 56 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that test positivity remains at 5% or lower for 14 days before countries or regions can reopen.

In addition, 34 more people succumbed to the disease, bringing the death toll to 87 001.

The information is based on the 17 553 515 tests, of which 19 160 were conducted on Sunday.

Globally, as of 24 September 2021, there have been 230 418 451 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 4 724 876 deaths, reported to the WHO. – SAnews.gov.za