SA urged to vaccinate as Covid-19 wave could hit SA within a month

SA is not out of the woods yet and should brace itself for another wave of Covid-19 infections, says a health expert.

Barry Schoub, a leading virologist, flagged that the biggest challenge is the low vaccine uptake.

“It is very low and we need to increase it quite urgently because we’re not totally out of the woods. I don’t think the concept of herd immunity is realistic.

“Unfortunately, we will always have the coronavirus. The virus mutates. Certainly we will have another wave, probably at the end of [September]. We hope it will be much milder. People who are not vaccinated should get the jab. Covid-19 is not over,” Schoub told eNCA.

The national state of disaster was lifted on April 5 after its implementation in March 2020. More than 4-million Covid-19 cases have been reported in the country to date.

Shabir Madhi, professor of vaccinology at Wits University, recently tweeted that although extensive immunity evolved against severe Covid-19 infection in SA, it came at a cost of 300,000 deaths with a mortality rate of 500 per 100,000 (among the top 10 globally).

“The poor planning and incorrect decision-making around the Covid-19 vaccine in SA, with deployment only starting at the peak of the Delta wave and after most deaths had already transpired, could have been avoided. Inequity in access to vaccines played a role.

“The Covid-19 pandemic might not be over and countries with low population immunity remain at risk in most of Africa, with multiple studies reporting 90% seropositivity mainly from infection post-Omicron, very much over the acute phase,” he said. 

He said Covid-19 vaccine access continues to matter, especially for high-risk groups in Africa.

TimesLIVE