Covid-19 R350 grant to be paid from next week, Sassa confirms

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has said that payments for the new cycle of Covid-19 R350 grants will be made from mid-June.

This was according to deputy director-general of the Department of Social Development Brenda Sibeko.

The grant was extended to March 2023, requiring applicants to reapply for the new cycle.

Under the new regulations, all applicants must undergo a means test and anyone earning more than R350 or more a month would be disqualified from receiving the grant.

Read more on The Citizen.

Additional booster dose for people over 50

As of June 6, people aged 50 and over will be eligible for an additional booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

In a statement on June 5, the Department of Health confirmed that the additional booster is available to all people within this age group who have completed at least 120 days or four months since their last Covid-19 vaccination of either Pfizer or Johnson and Johnson.

“This is part of efforts by the government to increase vaccine uptake to achieve population immunity while protecting the most vulnerable groups, especially those living with co-morbidities such as diabetes and hypertension,” the department said.

Read more on the Mid South Coast Rising Sun.

Vaccine hesitancy: Here’s why unvaccinated South Africans refused Covid-19 jabs

Recent surveys done by the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit found that while Covid-19 hesitancy in South Africans is not high, it had become deeply entrenched.

The two surveys conducted by the research unit interviewed over 3 500 unvaccinated South Africans.

It was established that most people did not want to be vaccinated, while a small portion was still undecided. More than a third of people definitely did not intend to be vaccinated and a quarter of respondents said they would only get vaccinated if they were mandated to do so.

Read more on The Citizen.

Latest Covid-19 statistics

As of June 9, a total of 3 975 062 positive cases had been recorded in South Africa since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the preceding 24 hours, 1 976 new cases and 24 new deaths were reported in the last 24 to 48 hours.

The cumulative death toll was 101 448 while recoveries stood at 3 849 717. The total number of vaccines administered was 36 406 003.