Covid-19 weekly round-up: SA has secured enough vaccines for all adults

South Africa has secured enough vaccines to reach all adults in the country, which is around 40 million people.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said this in his address to the nation on Sunday evening.

This includes 31 million doses of the single shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which requires two doses to provide full protection.

Close to a million healthcare workers and those over the age of 60 have received their vaccine since the rollout kicked off in February.

Health minister Zweli Mkhize said phase two of the rollout may be slow to start, however, the numbers should pick up after a few weeks.

There are currently more than 400 vaccination sites in operation across the country in both the public and private sectors.

Over the last two weeks, over 480,000 people have received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, however, these people will need to have a second dose 42 days after their first.

Here’s what adjusted level 2 means for South Africans

South Africa has been moved to Adjusted Alert Level 2 with effect from Monday due to a surge in Covid-19 cases.

The country on average is recording around 3 700 new Covid-19 cases per day, and cases have increased by 31% from the previous week.

Ramaphosa said the provinces of Free State, Northern Cape, North West and Gauteng have already reached the threshold of a third wave and that it is only a matter of time until the entire country reaches a third wave.

Only a few restrictions have been reintroduced under adjusted alert level 2, which include:

* The hours of curfew will start at 11pm and end at 4am.
* Non-essential establishments like restaurants, bars and fitness centres will close by 10pm. Which will to allow their employees and patrons to travel home before the start of the curfew.
* And All gatherings will be limited to a maximum of 100 people indoors and 250 people outdoors.

Alcohol sales will be permitted as normal under alert level 2.

Zweli Mkhize rocked by Digital Vibes scandal

Investigations are underway that involve an irregular tender awarded to Digital Vibes, a communications company associated with individuals linked to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

Mkhize conceded last week that the R150 million contract was irregular, but that he had not benefited from it.

Digital Vibes had been appointed in 2019 to provide communication services for the government’s National Health Insurance (NHI) rollout, but it was expanded last year to include Covid-19 communication work.

The company is accused of inflating pricing and doing work that the department could conduct internally.

Mkhize said a legal process is under way to recover the funds which were illegally paid. He said whether there was any corruption involved in the payment of funds is yet to be determined as an investigation of money flows is under way.

The Special Investigations Unit is also probing the same contract.

That’s 3 minutes, tune in next week for another roundup of the top Covid-19 stories.

kelly.turner@africannewsagency.com