Health Minister Joe Phaahla says the country was close to reaching the target of vaccinating 70% of people by the end of the year, with almost half of the estimated people getting the jab.
Phaahla said on Friday, during the launch of the digital vaccination certificate, that the only way to reduce cases of Covid-19 was to vaccinate.Phaahla said the death rate has dropped by 51%, the infection rate dropped by 33%, and the positivity rate has declined from 5% to 3%.“It is a deep sense of relief that we have exited the long-drawn third wave. This third wave lasted longer than the previous waves,” said Phaahla, adding that it lasted more than 110 days.
Phaahla said they have now vaccinated 33.4% of the people, and they want to ramp up the vaccination programme to reach the target of 70% by the end of the year. He said this was possible because, with the launch of the Vooma campaign last week, there has been an increase in the number of people getting jabs.Phaahla said, in total, 19 million doses have been administered, and 13 million individuals have received the jabs.“More encouraging is that 70% of the vulnerable groups are within reach,” said Phaahla in reference to those who were 50 years and older.
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