Acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said that in meetings with manufacturers, government had stressed the need to stick to agreed timeframes for vaccine delivery to make its target of administering 300,000 jabs daily.
President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the Rabasotho Community Centre in Tembisa on 29 July 2021 to monitor how the vaccine rollout was proceeding. He said the progress made in the number of citizens who have chosen to get the jab could get the country to herd immunity soon.
Speaking to journalists in Tembisa, he said the country's vaccination programme has gained steam through the cooperation between government and the private sector.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is also due to visit a private-public partnership site in Midrand.
The department said that it had noted with concern misleading reports and misinformation regarding a circular it had distributed to schools last week.
Government is aiming to jab up to 300,000 people per day nationally by next month and here in Gauteng, the target is 100,000 vaccinations every 24 hours in the province.
Some youngsters between the ages of 18 and 30 have told Eyewitness News that they would not be getting the jab, doubting the effectiveness of the vaccines.
The trade union federation said that there were other avenues available to employers instead of going the extreme route of sacking unvaccinated employees.
Head of the Provincial Health Department Dr Keith Cloete said this week's vaccine supply for the Cape did not meet current demand.
Premier David Makhura said that Gauteng wanted to also increase the vaccination sites, especially in the public sector to more than 500.
The department's Mondli Mvambi said plans were being made to reach the farming areas and many other hard-to-reach rural settings.
Health experts are warning that while the COVID-19 vaccine programme has picked up pace, we could still face a fourth wave of infections in the lead up to the Christmas holidays.
Medical virology lecturer at the University of Cape Town, Dr Marvin Hsiao, said that besides the level of protection the COVID-19 vaccines gave recipients, they also held benefits for people sharing the same space as the inoculated individual.
The department's Nicholas Crisp said that they were hoping that their plan to get as many as 35 million people jabbed by the end of the year would be exceeded.
Thousands of pupils went back to the classroom on Monday for the start of the third term.
Aspen Pharmacare said the first batch to be used in South Africa will be released from its Gqeberha production facility on Monday.
In a statement released on Monday, Aspen said that the vaccines would be distributed throughout the country and would also be made available for other African countries.
Under government guidelines, only six adults may sit together, staff must provide table service and all venues must close by 11.30pm. The European Union's digital covid certificate will be the primary "vaccine passport" required to gain access to pubs and restaurants, but a jab record from Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) is also accepted.
