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By IOL 
5h ago
Cape Town – South Africa has recorded 4,525 new Covid-19 cases and 213 deaths, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday.
“As of today, the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases identified in South Africa is 1,453,761 with 4,525 new cases identified since the last report,” Mkhize said.
Sadly, 213 more Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, with 95 deaths in the Eastern Cape, 8 in the Free State, 58 in Gauteng, 23 in KwaZulu-Natal, 17 in Mpumalanga, 4 in the North Cape and 8 in the Western Cape. This brings the total to 44,164 deaths. “
Recoveries now stand at 1,299,620, representing a recovery rate of 89%.
The cumulative total of tests carried out to date is 8,279,200 with 34,076 new tests registered since the last report.
The latest statistics come as President Cyril Ramaphosa and Vice President David Mabuza, who chairs the Interministerial Committee on Vaccines, will receive the first shipment of the Covid-19 vaccine from South Africa on Monday.
The first shipment of 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII) Oxford University departed on Sunday from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai.
The vaccines travel on an Emirates plane via Dubai and will arrive at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Monday afternoon.
Mkhize has previously said that the vaccines would first have to go through strict quality control and stock control over a period of 10 to 14 days, before they are distributed in the country’s nine provinces.
A second shipment of 500,000 doses of IBS is expected to arrive in late February.
The Health Department aims to vaccinate about 40 million people by the end of the year, which is equivalent to about 67% of the population. If the goal is met, leading scientists say the country would have achieved immunity for the population.
The first phase of this implementation program will prioritize around 1.2 million frontline health workers.
“The arrival of the first shipment at OR Tambo International Airport marks the beginning of the launch of the vaccine that President Ramaphosa describes as the largest and most complex logistics vaccine company in the history of the country of South Africa,” the Presidency said Sunday.
MESS
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