With government rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination programme, Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula has encouraged law enforcement officials to get vaccinated.

Addressing traffic officers on Wednesday in Pretoria before receiving his Johnson & Johnson jab, the Minister emphasised the importance of vaccinating against COVID-19, as it will assist the country in the fight against the pandemic.

“It is important to vaccinate and its part of the things we have to do in the fight against COVID-19. We rely on scientists to advise us…vaccination is important because it reduces fatalities. The vaccine is not a cure but it will assist our bodies to fight the virus.”

The vaccination of law enforcement officers forms part of government’s efforts in the national COVID-19 vaccination programme to vaccinate the general population and frontline workers in the security cluster.

“The vaccination numbers are encouraging and I will also form part of this traffic law enforcement cohort. It is pleasing and some sort of relief to know that law enforcement is protected,” Mbalula said.

South Africa has so far administered 6 854 667 vaccine doses of which 225 808 were distributed on Tuesday.

The latest data show that 60 001 people received the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) jab in the last 24 hours, while 165 807 received the Pfizer vaccine.

According to the Department of Health, the total cumulative number of the administered J&J shots now stands at 1 306 261 and 5 548 406 for Pfizer.

“We commend Health Workers who from the onset have been at the forefront of this pandemic,” the Minister said.

Source: South African Government News Agency