South Africa has now administered over 14 million COVID-19 jabs, with more than six million people fully vaccinated as of 8 September 2021.
According to the latest data by the Department of Health, the country administered 217 613 vaccines on Wednesday.
This means there are now 14 126 008 administered vaccines, translating to 10 359 616 people who have either received a shot of the Johnson & Johnson or Pfizer, of which 42% are men and 57.75% are women.
In addition, the number of adults that have been fully vaccinated stands at 6 888 163. Of these, 127 651 people were fully jabbed in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said there are 7 338 people who tested positive in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 836 773.
According to the NICD, this increase represents a 13.3% positivity rate.
However, the public health institute, noted that the current surge in COVID-19 infections seems to be showing signs of a “sustained” downward trend.
“Although the total number of cases today is higher than yesterday and higher than the average number of new cases per day over the previous seven days, the number of new cases and positivity rate have decreased nationally compared to last week,” the NICD Acting Executive Director, Professor Adrian Puren, said on Wednesday.
While there have been provincial disparities in the timing and extent of the third resurgence, Puren said all nine provinces are currently displaying a drop in daily new cases.
“The provinces of Gauteng and Limpopo have already met the end-of-wave threshold criteria.”
While the latest trends certainly provide some good news, Public Health Surveillance and Response Head, Dr Michelle Groome, cautions that “now is not the time for complacency”.
She added that wearing masks, hand hygiene and social distancing remain important measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the number of hospitalisations and deaths have also decreased compared to last week, while 253 more people lost their lives, pushing the death toll to 84 152.
According to Groome, high vaccine coverage is essential to limit the impact of the virus on the lives and livelihoods in the coming months.
“We all have a part to play by getting vaccinated and encouraging our family, friends and colleagues to do the same,” appealed Groome.
The information is based on the 16 878 061 tests, of which were 55 355 performed since the last reporting cycle.
Globally, as of 8 September 2021, there have been 221 648 869 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 4 582 338 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation. – SAnews.gov.za
