It’s been almost a week since South African scientists first dedicated the heavily mutated Omicron COVID-19 variant and alerted the world, resulting in a number of countries shutting their borders to South Africans and ruining December holiday plans.
Following the fear and panic that spread like wildfire across the world and country, President Cyril Ramaphosa took a few minutes to address the nation on November 28.
During the address, the president urged citizens to get vaccinated as it proved to be the best defence against COVID-19. It appears South Africans have listened and decided to take action as more than 100 000 people have received their first jab on Monday, reports IOL.
According to reports released by the national health department, a total of 110 656 were fully vaccinated in the last 24 hours. Of this number, a total of 69 860 received their first jab of the Pfizer vaccine and 35 619 received the single dose, Johnson & Johnson.
During his address to the nation, Ramaphosa emphasised the importance of getting vaccinated stating: “The first, the most powerful, tool we have is vaccination.”
However, many South Africans still remain hesitant. In light of this, a number of businesses have sought to incentivise receiving your jab. According to Business Insider, a number of discounts and prizes are up for grabs for those who get vaccinated. Absa and First National Bank are both giving away R7 million, while Game is set to reintroduce their Wednesday 10% discount and Uber is providing R200 worth of Uber trips to various vaccination sites across South Africa.
Approximately 24.5 million vaccines have been administered and 14.2 million people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
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Picture: Cape {town} Etc Gallery