For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: Mkhize assures SA that 1-million vaccines will arrive later this month; Goverment appeals for caution during Easter weekend; And, Covid-19 cases climb by 1 422 and death toll increases by 58

Mkhize assures SA that 1-million vaccines will arrive later this month

South Africa is on track for rollout of the second phase of vaccinations in May, and government is expecting the arrival of around one-million vaccines later this month.

In a news interview on Thursday morning, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the country was expected to take delivery of one-million vaccines from Johnson & Johnson in the second half of April.

He added that a further shipment of around 900 000 vaccines would follow in May and a third shipment in June.

The country can expect more than five-million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to arrive between April and June, as well as more than a million doses that were sourced through Covax.

Goverment appeals for caution during Easter weekend

Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has appealed to churches to be extra cautious this weekend as they plan to celebrate the Easter weekend between April 2 and April 5.  

She said a review on the latest Covid-19 infection numbers would be done by the Department of Health after 15 days.

She emphasised the restrictions that allow for 250 people indoors and 500 outdoors at an event, provided the venue is big enough to allow for people to be 1.5 m apart.

She appealed to churches with small venues to not host large gatherings and stressed that health protocols such as mask wearing and sanitising must continue to be observed.

And, Covid-19 cases climb by 1 422 and death toll increases by 58

South Africa recorded 1 422 new Covid-19 infections by Wednesday 31 along with 58 more Covid-19-related deaths, taking the death toll to 52 846.

The country has recorded a total of 1 548 157 confirmed Covid-19 cases.

Gauteng has  414 261 cases, which amounts to 26.8% of the total. KwaZulu-Natal has recorded 334 027 cases, the Western Cape has had 282 830 cases and the Eastern Cape has had 195 425 cases.

KwaZulu-Natal has the most active cases (5 519), followed by the Western Cape's 5 125 cases and the Northern Cape's 2 585.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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