South Africa distributed 11 721 COVID-19 jabs to children between the ages of 12 and 17 on Monday.

According to the Department of Health, 168 445 shots were given to adults across the country, pushing the total number of doses to 180 166 in the past 24 hours.

This means the country has now administered 21 514 033 doses since the start of the rollout programme.

In addition, South Africa is now home to 11 697 646 fully vaccinated adults, while 61 997 single Pfizer shots have been given to adolescents.

Meanwhile, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), 4 477 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, with 146 new cases, representing a 1% positivity rate.

The highest number of new infections were logged in Gauteng (44), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (38), Western Cape (24) and Northern Cape (11), while the rest of the provinces recorded under 10 additional cases each.

In addition, nine more people succumbed to the disease, pushing the death toll to 88 934 to date, while hospital admissions increased by 24.

The NICD reminded citizens to adhere to preventative measures to help limit the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.

The institute is encouraging people to vaccinate for COVID-19, wear masks to cover the nose, gather in ventilated spaces, avoid unnecessary gatherings, keep a social distance of one metre or more and wash hands regularly with soap and water.

Source: South African Government News Agency