Health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday it may be a slow start in the beginning of the the second phase of the Covid-19 vaccinations but the numbers should pick up in the course of the month.
Mkhize said vaccine administrators may need to get comfortable with the vaccines before we could see a steady incline in the number of vaccines being administered daily.
Delivering an address on Sunday night, Mkhize said the leftover Sisonke vaccines which were being administered to healthcare workers would not be used in the second and third phase of the Covid-19 vaccination rollout. As thousands of South Africans were expected to report to various vaccination sites from Monday, the country was also expected to receive almost 326 000 Pfizer vaccinations at midnight on Monday.
Currently, South Africa has about 2.1 million citizens registered for the vaccination program and no walk-ins are allowed at present. Mkhize said this could change in future. The health department said vaccine availability may slow down the rollout, which will target the about 700,000 health workers not already vaccinated in the Sisonke trial, as well as SA's estimated 5.5-million people over 60.