The landmark number was confirmed by the department’s deputy director Dr Nicholas Crisp on Wednesday. 

“Well, today we crossed the 3 million doses of vaccinations that we have given to people in the country. 480 000 of those were done during the Sisonke trial with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the rest have been done since the 17th of May,” he told MPs on Parliament’s health committee.

The country’s vaccination programme, which has come under fire for its lack of speed to unavailability of vaccines, is seemingly picking up momentum. 

On Wednesday, 19 506 new Covid-19 cases were recorded by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD). This is the biggest increase since the country was plunged into the third wave. 

The total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic last year now stands at 1 973 972. 

Gauteng still accounts for most of the country’s infections, with new Covid-19 cases totalling 11 106 in just 24 hours. 

A further 383 deaths have also been recorded bringing the total number of fatalities to 60 647. 

While new infections continue to soar, there is some hope for the country’s frontline workers.

More than 238 000 educators and teachers have been vaccinated during the first week of the campaign.

Jacaranda News