[Thread] 1. #JoPhaahla: Our 3rd #COVID wave behaves differently from the 1st + 2nd wave.
How? In wave 1 + 2, new cases decreased consistently after peaks. In the 3rd wave, it's not that clear cut. The 3rd wave seems to drag on longer.
2. #JoPhaahla: In July we saw a downward trend of new #COVID cases, but on 13 Aug cases started to increase again. This was not only a national fluctuation, but could also be seen in provinces, specifically, in EC and NC.
3. #JoPhaahla: In Gauteng, there is encouraging news. There has been a sustained downward trend of new #COVID cases.
4. #JoPhaahla: Nationally, there has been a 2.3 % decrease in new cases over the past week. But that is slow progress and a low reduction. We've seen between 10 000 and 13 000 per day with a 19 to 20% positivity rate (the % of cases coming out +).
5. #JoPhaahla: SA's current positivity rate of between 19 and 20% for #COVID tests is still far from the WHO recommendation of 5% that the WHO says indicates that a wave has stabilized. (stable)
6. #JoPhaahla: In some provinces there is a concerning trend: More people between 10-19 years are testing positive. This could be related to the opening of schools and them engaging in social activities such as parties without precautions.
7. #JoPhaahla: If we don't vaccinate fast enough and adhere to mask wearing and social distancing, we risk the 4th wave arriving (probs in November) at at the tail end of 3rd wave.
8. #JoPhaahla: The rate of #COVID vaccination depends on: 1. Vaccine delivery from manufacturers 2. SA's ability to get jabs to sites 3. How many SAs take up vaccinations
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
1. The aim of vaccination certificates = not to punish people, but to protect each other 2. Vaccination certificates will allow SA to introduce policies to open up more activities, e.g. larger sports events, for vaccinated people
2. #Phaahla: Vaccination certificates will allow vaccinated people more access to activities than unvaccinated people. But it won't deprive unvaccinated people from accessing essential services, e.g. health clinics. You won't need certificates to access such services.
3. How will vaccination certificates be accessed? #Phaahla: 1. A link from which you can download your certificate will be sent to your phone (you can only download it if you have a smart phone) 2. Your vaccination site will be able to print you a certificate
[Thread] 1. #Phaahla: Vaccinations of people below 18: 1. #Pfizer has been approved for use on people of 12+ 2. SA, for the next month or two, will remain focused on vaccinating people of 18+ (higher risk people) 3. Main priority = 50+ (most vulnerable) before our 4th wave
2. #Phaahla: 1. We're not ignoring the fact that #Pfizer has been approved for use by people below 18 yrs + schools want learners vaccinated 2. We're hoping by the end of Oct we will have covered enough adults to then review our policy + consider vaccinating people of below 18
3. #Phaahla: 1. @HealthZA believes it will be irresponsible to "start running around" vaccinating teenagers before we haven't reached enough adults (high risk group) 2. Goal = to have 50% of people of 50+ vaccinated first (currently = at 30%).
[Thread] 1. #Phaahla: SA's 3rd #COVID19 wave has been considerably longer than other waves: 1. First wave = 87 days 2. Second wave = 95 days 3. Third wave (so far) = 120 days
2. #Phaahla: When compared to the previous 7 days, overall new #COVID19 cases are down by 35%. The positivity rate (the % of tests that come out +) is down by 9.5% to an average + rate of 9.3%. That brings us closer to the WHO's recommend, "safer" +rate of 5%.
3. #Phaahla: Active #COVID19 cases are going down. The WC and KZN still have the highest numbers of active cases, but they're slowly coming down.
4 June – 300,000 (short expiry)
21 June – 1,253,600 (short expiry)
26 July – 1,454,400
9 August – 619,200
6 September – 1,413,600
13 September – 1,360,800
TOTAL – 6,401,600
2. How many doses does #JnJ still owe us?
We procured 31.2 million doses, so:
31,200,000 - 6,401,600 = 24,798,400
* It's real life data from between
- April 4 and June 19
- June 20 - July 17
* They looked at data from 13 US states
* Jabs that fully vaccinated people received = Pfizer/Moderna (92%), JnJ (8%)
3. What did the #DeltaVariant do to the protection #COVID vaccines offer @ infection?
It reduced vaccines' protection @ infection from 91% to 78%.
[Thread].1. How is Northwest province doing with #VaccineRollOutSA?
* To reach 70% of adults by Dec, NW needs to do 20 000 jabs six days/week
* Where are they now? NW is doing 13 000 jabs/week
* Biggest challenge = vaccine hesitancy
2. How many #VaccineRollOutSA sites does NW have?
* 55 fixes sites (42 public, 13 private)
* 200 outreach sites
* NW has all the required equipment and also enough staff and funds to vaccinate all adults who needs a vaccine
3. Vaccine hesitancy in NW province = biggest problem. NW hlth dpt says the graph below shows that it's particularly difficult to get people to visit sites that are open over weekends, so there are huge dips in weekend vaccination numbers.