World News | S African Health Authorities Reduce COVID-19 Vaccination Reporting as Experts Warn Against Complacency
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The South African Ministry of Health has announced reduced requirements for COVID-19 vaccination reporting, even as experts cautioned against complacency amid a surge in infections in China that has sparked concerns across the globe.
Johannesburg, Dec 29 (PTI) The South African Ministry of Health has announced reduced requirements for COVID-19 vaccination reporting, even as experts cautioned against complacency amid a surge in infections in China that has sparked concerns across the globe.
“Whilst the Department remains committed to provide accurate and timely information on the Vaccination Programme, daily reporting is no longer required. The Department will therefore publish vaccination data on a weekly basis,” the Health Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The National Department of Health has been reporting on COVID-19 vaccinations on a daily basis since the start of the pandemic in 2021 in order to keep the South African public abreast with regard to the progress of the COVID-19 vaccination programme.
The last report on December 15 before updates stopped for the traditional two-week holiday period showed that there were 18 deaths overnight and 9,148 active Covid-19 cases across the country.
Health experts, citing the current crisis in China, cautioned against South Africans becoming complacent because of low Covid-19 admissions to hospitals in the midsummer season which is now in place.
They said the new reporting system with reduced frequency should not be interpreted as the necessity to be vaccinated having gone away.
“The pandemic is not over, and vaccination services remain accessible as part of routine health services and at designated sites,” the Department of Health said.
“In areas where vaccine coverage remains low, we will continue to take vaccines and health services to the public, using mobile clinical units, as vaccines still offer the best protection against severe illness, hospitalisation and death,” it said.
The department said that to accommodate changes in the vaccination programme, which now includes booster doses, and to validate the use of the Electronic Vaccination Data System data for reports, the current vaccination data was reviewed, and changes were made to reset some of the values, improve and simplify the report.
The data will be presented in an improved and simplified format which will also reflect changes which have been made to the programme as it has evolved.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)