SAfrica’s new COVID-19 cases continue to rise

South Africa’s new COVID-19 cases continue to rise as the country seeks to control a surge of infections driven by the omicron variant. In the 24 hours into Thursday, South Africa recorded over 22,000 new cases, up from about 200 per day in early November.

More than 90% of the new cases are omicron, according to genetic sequencing surveys. South Africa's regulatory authority has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as a booster shot, opening the way for third doses to be administered to battle the current surge driven by the omicron variant.

Just over 14 million South Africans have been fully vaccinated. The relatively slow rate of vaccinations makes the government's goal of inoculating 67% of the population by February look unrealistic.