Please get a Covid-19 vaccine, Cyril Ramaphosa urges as he isolates

As he recovers from a covid-19 infection, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday urged South Africans to vaccinate and observe all safety protocols.

In a tweet, the president, who is self-isolating in Cape Town after results on Sunday showed he was Covid-19 positive, said vaccines helped reduce the effects of the pandemic.

“As I recover, my message of the week is: don't let your guard down. Do everything you can and need to, to stay safe, beginning with vaccination,” he said in the tweet.

“Vaccines dramatically reduce the chances of severe illness, hospitalisation and death. Let us protect ourselves. Vaccination is free, easy and it works.”

In a statement released by minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele, he said the president started feeling unwell after leaving the state memorial service in honour of former president FW de Klerk in Cape Town on Sunday.

“The president is in good spirits but is being monitored by the SA Military Health Service of the SA National Defence Force. The president, who is fully vaccinated, is in self-isolation in Cape Town and has delegated all responsibilities to Deputy President David Mabuza for the next week,” Gungubele said.