Durban – The National Department of Health said 80 000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were set to expire by the end of March.
National spokesperson Foster Mohale said the department was exploring strategies to increase vaccine uptake especially among people in the 18 – 34 age group.
According to statistics, only 30% of people this category have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
He urged people to vaccinate before the anticipated fifth wave.
“We don’t know when and how it will hit. As a country we cannot afford to lose lives again like before during the delta and beta variants which claimed more lives because we didn’t have protective weapon like vaccines.
“The more we vaccinate and boost in numbers, the more we prevent the loss of lives.”
Mohale urged those who were partly vaccinated to get fully vaccinated while infections were still low.
To date, almost 25 million Pfizer and 8.1 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines have been administered in the country.
Almost 50% of the population have had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Forty-four percent are fully vaccinated.
More than 2 million booster shots have been administered to date.
IOL