The uptake of first-dose vaccinations has remained 20% lower than during the municipal elections at the beginning of November, the health department says.

On Monday, the health department administered 110 604 vaccine doses, of which 55 353 were first doses. This has inched the country closer to reaching the 25 million vaccination mark.

As of Monday, 24 754 316 jabs had been administered. The department said 355 902 children have received one vaccine dose.

The slowing of the vaccination drive comes as the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) flags an uptick in cases, driven by a cluster outbreak in Gauteng.

On Monday, the country recorded 312 new confirmed Covid-19 infections and 10 deaths, bringing the confirmed death toll to 89 584.

As of Monday, the country recorded 2 930 174 laboratory-confirmed cases.

The majority of the new cases on Monday were recorded in Gauteng. The province recorded 239 new cases – 77% of all new cases in the country.

KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape each recorded 5% of new cases, with 15 and 16 new cases respectively.

There were 37 new hospital admissions in the last 24-hour reporting cycle. As of Monday, 2 715 people were in hospital for Covid-19.

South Africa conducted 19 126 699 tests, of which 13 473 were carried out in the last 24-hour cycle.