The country’s first citizen is with of a group of health workers being vaccinated at the Khayelitsha District Hospital in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Eighty thousand of the single-dose vaccines arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday.

The rollout, due to take place from Wednesday, would be coordinated through the Sisonke open-label COVID-19 vaccine programme.

In a local Phase 2b clinical trial, the Novavax vaccine has shown a 60% efficacy in preventing mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 in HIV-negative participants. The vaccine also showed efficacy against the 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant, according to Professor Shabir Madhi.

Twelve people on Friday appeared in court in connection with corruption linked to Nelson Mandela's memorial service, including Eastern Cape Health MEC Sindisiwe Gomba.

The accused, one of whom is Eastern Cape Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba, face charges relating to corruption, money laundering, fraud and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act.

They include Buffalo City municipality employees, business people and politicians.

South Africa has secured 9 million doses of the J&J vaccine with the first consignment of 80,000 vials expected to arrive in the country next week.

During phase one, the province expects to administer the vaccine to an estimated 132,000 health care workers.

Provincial Head of Health, Dr Keith Cloete, said that despite a drop in the number of COVID-19 cases being recorded, there was still significant pressure on the health system.

Head of Health, Dr Keith Cloete, said that at present, one in every 10 COVID-19 tests now yielded a positive result.

Professor Glenda Gray added that the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) still had to put its stamp of approval for commercial use on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Health MEC Maruping Lekwene has on Wednesday fielded questions from Parliament's health portfolio committee.

The global health body said the AstraZeneca vaccine could still prevent severe disease, hospitalisations and death even though its efficacy to immunise against the second strain in South Africa was much lower.

The bodies of three of the boys were recovered yesterday, while rescuers retrieved a fourth body during the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is effective against the South African variant of the virus.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the children were apparently playing on sand dunes, which caved in on them.

Wits University professor, Shabir Madhi, said that studies on this method were already under way in the United Kingdom.