Govt warns about vaccine ‘fake news’ after Mogoeng’s comments

Government has warned against a “fake news” narrative as the world searches for vaccines to curb the spread of Covid-19.

This comes after Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng defended his controversial prayer that any Covid-19 vaccine that was “of the devil” be destroyed.

Speaking during a thanksgiving ceremony at Tembisa Hospital, televised by the SABC, Mogoeng said: “If there be any vaccine that is of the devil, meant to infuse triple-six in the lives of people, meant to corrupt their DNA, any such vaccine, Lord God Almighty, may it be destroyed by fire, in the name of Jesus.”

Government spokesperson Phumla Williams said government had made a commitment that it will participate in all initiatives seeking a vaccine, adding that government wants to make sure when a vaccine arrives, South Africa benefits from it.

ALSO READ: ‘I won’t stop praying,’ says Mogoeng after Covid-19 vaccine comments

“Whatever we do around issues of Covid-19 is informed by science. Experts guide us on how we respond to this pandemic. It is important that all South Africans should avoid untested information of fake news, equally media should make sure it responsibly informs the public. Untested information can be quite dangerous, especially given that figures of positive people have jumped to 8 000 yesterday,” she said.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed a second wave has hit the country.

In a special live television broadcast on Wednesday night, Mkhize said increases were seen in about six provinces.

The peak age bracket of new cases in the past two days is now between 15 and 19.

“This is a new issue and this is what is most worrying,” said Mkhize.

“A report from KwaZulu-Natal last week showed the pattern was more widespread than thought. This inevitably leads to super-spreader activities which spill over into the rest of the country as the age group is highly mobile and the majority of the carriers are largely asymptomatic,” he added.

Many of the new cases have been associated with Ballito Rage events in KwaZulu-Natal.

Other Rage events have been cancelled, and authorities on the Garden Route and in the Cape Metro have been cancelling planned events as the emergence of a second wave became clear.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases rose by 8 166 on Thursday, bringing the number to 836 764, while the total number of deaths is 22 747, and the total number of recoveries is 756 671, Mkhize tweeted.

It was previously reported that government was seeking to buy vaccines for 10% of its population of roughly 58 million people via Covax. The full cost of purchasing that amount of doses is roughly R2.2 billion, of which R327 million is a down payment, the health ministry said.

Williams said government has been consistent in sharing with South Africa everything they need to know in terms of arming themselves against Covid-19.

“The starting point is there is no vaccine and no cure. The only cure is prevention by wearing masks, washing your hands, social distancing, and avoiding big gatherings,” she said.

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