Phase two vaccine rollout for elderly started 'reasonably well': Mkhize

The number of people vaccinated at old age homes on Monday still needs to be captured.

Covid-19 infections have climbed by 1,757, the health ministry said on Monday evening, on day one of the phase two vaccine rollout to the elderly that was partially disrupted by load-shedding and violent protests in parts of SA.

“Phase two vaccination rollout proceeded reasonably well today, notwithstanding some challenges experienced in the respective provinces, of which load-shedding and violent protests in the Free State were the most impactful,” said health minister Zweli Mkhize.

An additional 50 Covid-19 related deaths were recorded in the past 24-hour cycle — significantly 30 of those in the Free State.

“Though most of the sites were able to proceed, a large number of vaccinations were captured on paper and the numbers are still being reconciliated. In addition the numbers vaccinated at old age homes still need to be captured.

“We will therefore allow for this reconciliation over the course of the next 24 hours and will announce the numbers vaccinated in phase two as from [Tuesday]. In due course we will launch a public-facing dashboard that will publish the numbers near real time,” he said in a statement.

The cumulative number of Covid-19 cases identified in SA is now 1,615,485. The cumulative number of recoveries is 1,526,638 representing a recovery rate of 94,5%.

There were 19,505 tests conducted since the last report on Sunday.

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