SA’s Omicron epicentre sees sudden vaccination rush

01 December 2021 - 11:30 By Janice Kew
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
SA administered 175,395 shots in the last 24 hours, a 5.6% increase from Monday and 41% higher than the same period on Thursday. File photo.
SA administered 175,395 shots in the last 24 hours, a 5.6% increase from Monday and 41% higher than the same period on Thursday. File photo.
Image: Sebabatso Mosamo/Sunday Times

Residents of SA’s richest province and the nation’s Omicron epicentre are rushing to get vaccinated, driving up national inoculation rates that were languishing before the sequencing of the new coronavirus variant. 

SA administered 175,395 shots in the last 24 hours, a 5.6% increase from Monday and 41% higher than the same period on Thursday, the day the nation’s scientists announced discovery of the troubling new strain. Almost a third of the inoculations were in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province.

Fears about the new variant are helping reduce vaccine hesitancy — something President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government hasn’t managed to achieve. Meanwhile, Covid-19 cases have surged in Africa’s most developed nation, with authorities warning of an impending fourth wave. 

The debate over whether to make vaccines obligatory for various public places is picking up pace as Omicron takes hold in the country, which has fully inoculated about a third of its adult population. 

In an address to South Africans over the weekend, Ramaphosa said that while vigilance is important, the world has got to learn to live with Covid-19. Being inoculated is among the best options available to do that.

Vaccination rates from November 25 to 30.
Vaccination rates from November 25 to 30.
Image: Bloomberg

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.