{"id":839,"date":"2021-11-08T07:05:28","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T07:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innov8fs.co.za\/blog\/?p=839"},"modified":"2026-03-18T11:46:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:46:44","slug":"south-africa-is-going-to-miss-the-december-vaccine-target-says-discovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innov8fs.co.za\/blog\/2021\/11\/08\/south-africa-is-going-to-miss-the-december-vaccine-target-says-discovery\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa is going to miss the December vaccine target, says Discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Medical scheme\u00a0Discovery Health has shared the latest data from its actuarial team\u2019s ongoing analysis of the trajectory of the Covid-19 pandemic and the real-world effectiveness of vaccines.<\/p>\n

The group noted that Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy is a key deterrent to vaccine uptake in the county and is fuelled in large part by misinformation, which drives confusion and fear.<\/p>\n

South Africa has procured sufficient Covid-19 vaccine doses for around 80% of the population. The National Department of Health has subsequently set targets to vaccinate 70% of the adult population by December 2021.<\/p>\n

Based on current\u00a0vaccinated population levels and projections, it is unlikely that South Africa will meet these targets, and will most likely finish the year with\u00a0slightly more than 50% of the adult population vaccinated<\/strong>, said Discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe demand for vaccination has unfortunately slowed,\u201d said chief executive of Discovery Health, Dr Ryan Noach.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to understand the true, real-world nature of the protective effects of Covid-19 vaccines. Also, people want to know their risk of experiencing side effects post-vaccination \u2013 and whether they are at higher risk of an adverse event post-vaccination or complications from Covid-19. Our analysis answers these questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Positive results\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the high level of hesitancy will impact South Africa\u2019s targets, Discovery said that its results showing the efficacy of the vaccines are incredibly promising.<\/p>\n

Discovery\u2019s results show that the Pfizer\/BioNTech vaccine reduced the risk of being hospitalised or dying from Covid-19 in South Africa by more than 90%.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe determined the Pfizer vaccine\u2019s effectiveness in protecting against Covid-19 admission and mortality by analysing 526,516 pathology test results, 14,673 Covid-19 admissions and 3,441 Covid\u201119 deaths. All of these occurred between 17 May 2021 (the start of South Africa\u2019s mass vaccination campaign) and 23 September 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe findings are striking and extremely encouraging. We have shown that following each dose of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, there is significant protection against both serious Covid-19 illness relative risk of admission to hospital) and death \u2013 of course, most notable for those who are fully vaccinated, 14 days after receiving the second dose.\u201d<\/p>\n

The key findings show:<\/p>\n