By Kaya 959 Reporter
Almost 50,000 teens have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Department of Health revealed that a total of 49,672 children in the 12 to 17 age group have rolled up their sleeves since last week.
The Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccines recommended that the youngsters be administered the Pfizer vaccination.
National Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla says most of the youth will be at secondary or high school age.
“This will be beneficial as schools are preparing for final examinations,” he says.
Phaahla has also encouraged parents and caregivers to assist eligible young people.
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Gauteng school vaccination sites
Gauteng Premier David Makhura says his department is working on a plan for school vaccination sites.
Makhura says they want to use schools as vaccination sites for learners and are urging parents to consent. He says they do not want to work against their parents.
Vaccination of young people from the age of 12 is a global phenomenon.
The department says, as with adults, all eligible children should carry their SA ID cards, birth certificate with registration number, or foreign passport of any verifiable asylum/refugee proof of identity with their name.
South Africa has administered over 22-million COVID-19 vaccines to date.
SA’s number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has climbed to just under three-million, with 146 new cases reported on Monday.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases says there were nine COVID-19 deaths – taking the country’s death toll to 88,934 to date.
The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (30%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 26% and Western Cape with 16%.
Northern Cape accounted for 8%; Eastern Cape and North West each accounted for 5% respectively, while Mpumalanga accounted for 4%.
The Free State accounted for 3%, and Limpopo accounted for 2%.
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