Seven out of 10 people being admitted to hospital during the fourth wave of Covid-19 are unvaccinated, health minister Joe Phaahla said on Friday.
While scientific work is continuing to determine the efficacy of vaccines against the Omicron variant of the virus, the admissions data suggested they remained effective, Phaahla told a health department media briefing.
Phaahla also revealed that the high proportion of young people admitted to hospitals early in the fourth wave had now reduced. While under-18s initially comprised 21% of admissions, they now account for only 5%.ave severe disease than in the second and third waves. While weekly cases had risen by more than 400% in Gauteng last week, hospital admissions increased by only 200%.
The lowest rate is among under-35s, he said, and Dr Michelle Groome from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said this was probably linked to the higher number of admissions in this group.
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