His warnings come as the country is currently experiencing a decline in the number of daily Covid cases reported.

On Sunday, the Health Ministry announced that 2 435 more people had tested positive for Covid-19 in SA, taking the country's cumulative number of cases identified in the country to 1 476 135.

The Ministry said the cumulative total of tests conducted to date is 8 495 811 with 26 055 new tests recorded since the last report.

There have been a further 110 Covid-19 related deaths: Eastern Cape 8, Free State 20, Gauteng 23, KwaZulu-Natal 10, Mpumalanga 20, Northern Cape 1, and Western Cape 28 - which brings the total to 46 290 deaths.

"Our recoveries now stand at 1 360 204, representing a recovery rate of 92%," the Ministry said.

AstraZeneca vaccine provides minimal protection against Covid-19 variant

Professor Shabir Madhi, Dean of Health Sciences at Wits University, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize and the Health Committee were addressing the media on the latest research on Covid-19 vaccines and South Africa’s roll-out strategy.

While the AstraZeneca vaccine had high efficacy against the original coronavirus, it offers limited protection against the 501Y.V2 variant, Madhi said.

In this study of approximately 2,000 volunteers, protection against moderate-severe disease, hospitalisation or death could not be assessed in this study as the target population were at low risk.

IOL