The country may experience new rises in cases of covid-19 infection, which could contribute to entering the "fifth wave" of the pandemic in the not-too-distant future, Health Minister Armindo Tiago warned Thursday in Ponta D'ouro, Maputo province.
This prediction by the Ministry of Health (MoH) is based on the current health situation in neighboring South Africa, which in recent days has seen an increase in the number of new coronavirus infections.
Nevertheless, the high levels of vaccination in Mozambique may lead to these new infections being less severe than the previous ones, he explained.
"And for the country to continue on this path, it is important that everyone adheres to vaccination, according to industry recommendations," he appealed.
A patient who was hospitalized due to respiratory complications linked to covid-19 was discharged from the hospital on Friday, during which time health authorities recorded four new cases of the disease.
The patient was receiving medical care at an inpatient center in Tete and is expected to continue treatment in home isolation. In the opposite direction, one person was hospitalized, keeping the number of patients under medical observation at three, one of whom is in intensive care.
Data from the Ministry of Health indicate that the four infected were identified in 697 samples from individuals with symptoms suggestive of covid-19 and contacts from positive cases, representing a positivity of 0.57%.
Between Thursday and yesterday, there were no reported recoveries from the disease, bringing to 65 the number of those infected in home or institutional isolation.
As for vaccination, an additional 11,912 individuals over the age of 18 were immunized, bringing the cumulative number of people who have had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to 14.8 million.
As of yesterday, 13.8 million were fully vaccinated and 340,293 health care workers, seniors in nursing homes, and the chronically ill had their immunity restored by taking the booster dose.
Vaccination coverage has reached 91.2% of the more than 15.2 million planned in the National Plan.