For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

Encouraging decline in Covid-19 infections, first phase of digital Covid-19 vaccine certificate launched and, US to donate R134 million in Covid-19 assistance to S Africa

Encouraging decline in Covid-19 infections

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said today that a 0.67% reproductive rate of coronavirus infections indicated that South Africa is entering stable territory.

He noted that the third wave of the pandemic lasted longer than previous waves the country experienced.

The Minister said the number of new infections had consistently been dropping in the last three weeks, with a 33% reduction in the last seven days.

The overall positivity rate has remained below 5% in the last seven to 14 days.

first phase of digital Covid-19 vaccine certificate launched
The Department of Health formally launched the first phase of the digital Covid-19 vaccination certificate on Friday, saying more improvements will be made in the coming months.

Vaccinated people will be able to enter their personal details on the system and generate their certificates, which will be used by various entities requiring to verify the certificate’s validity.

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla explained that the certificate system will be rolled out in phases with improvements being made to improve the safety and security of the certificate.

The digital certificate is expected to be a tool to enable vaccinated people to access many opportunities which various providers will be making available.

US to donate R134 million in Covid-19 assistance to S Africa

US Chargé d’Affaires Todd Haskell has announced the donation of about R134-million in urgent Covid-19 assistance from the US to South Africa to boost the country’s vaccination drive. 

 This forms part of additional support from the American Rescue Plan Act and complements the more than $800-million in annual foreign assistance from the US to South Africa.

The donation will be used to strengthen vaccination site set-up, improve service delivery of vaccines in rural areas, maintain government’s electronic vaccine registration system and to train health workers.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today
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