Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said on Friday that despite concerns that the November 1 local government elections would be a super spreader event, there has not been a spike in infections in any province, so far.

The country’s daily infection rate over the last four weeks has been between 200 and 500.

Phaahla said the country’s 16 396 active cases is still high but lower than during peak periods.

The death rate has also reduced, with 17 deaths reported on Thursday.

“These numbers are again a reminder that the virus is still very active."

"As has been repeated a number of times before, a resurgence of infections introducing a fourth wave is expected as we see in other countries especially in Europe currently. For example, Germany and the Ukraine are going through their fourth wave. Our national team is working with provincial teams to prepare for the fourth wave,” the Minister warned.

Phaahla stressed that the inevitable festive season would be a contributor to the fourth wave, as well as new variants. Therefore, he is urging people to get vaccinated.

The Department of Health’s genomic sequencing teams are monitoring any variants of concern but so far there are none of concern. National health teams are working with provincial teams to prepare for the fourth wave.

Readiness plans are addressing oxygen supply, of which the bulk supplier has finalised contingency plans. Other areas such as bed capacity, equipment, personal protective equipment and consumables are also receiving attention.

COVID-19 VACCINATION PROGRAMME

Phaahla said the country’s vaccination programme remained resilient, however, he admitted that it was facing challenges. He pointed out that the programme had the capacity to administer the vaccine to all adults by the end of December.

As of Thursday night more than 23-million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered to over 18-million individuals, constituting 39.75% of the adult population.

Phaahla said the department hoped to reach 40% of the adult population with at least one dose of a vaccine by Monday.

He noted that full vaccination was still a bit low, at more than 13-million individuals, which was 33.2% of the adult population.

He expressed disappointment with the uptake of vaccines by young adults between the ages of 18 and 34, which stands at 24.8%. He attributed the slow uptake to fake news on social media.

More than 200 000 people between the ages of 12 and 17 had been vaccinated by Thursday, with a total of more than 300 000 registered on the Electronic Vaccination Data System.