COVID-19: South Africans urged to vaccinate to protect against fifth wave

Crisp says that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is the best way to protect oneself from severe illness and even death. Recently, Mzansi has reported a notable increase in COVID-19 cases. This has raised concerns over the start of a potential fifth wave.

It has been reported that the recent cases appear to be linked to Omicron sub-variants BA4 and BA5. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says that the country’s COVID-19 test positivity rate reached its highest percentage in over three months during this week.

Dr Crisp, however, says the increase is not a cause for alarm. Crisp explained that children and young people are being hospitalised. He shared that the people being hospitalised are unvaccinated.

Vaccinations are imperative for protection against coronavirus

He continued by explaining that wild virus immunity is not sufficient as it is unclear how long those antibodies last. It is also unclear how protective said antibodies are against COVID-19.

“We are seeing hospitalisations, we are seeing children being hospitalised, we’re seeing a lot of young people, the numbers are still small, of the people who are being admitted and it’s unvaccinated people. We’ve warned repeatedly that just thinking that you may have wild virus immunity because there’s wild virus immunity in the community is not sufficient. We don’t know how long those antibodies last, and we don’t know how protective they are.”

Dr Nicholas Crisp

SA records 4230 cases and 2 deaths – 16,8% positivity

South Africa recorded 4230 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, 23 April, according to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD). The 25 161 tests conducted over the past 24 hours represent a positivity rate of 16,8 percent.

The 4230 new COVID-19 cases detected in South Africa on Saturday bring the total number of active cases in the country to 26 819. Two people died of COVID-19-related complications in the last 24 to 48 hours, according to the NICD.

The National Department of Health added 12 more deaths on Saturday, including the aforementioned two, bringing the death toll to 100 298. The additional deaths are the result of an ongoing audit exercise, which could result in a backlog. There were 25 people admitted to hospital for COVID-19 treatment within the latest testing cycle.  Read the full story here.