JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) – South Africa’s Health Minister said Friday that vaccinations and high levels prior COVID-19 infections were contributing to a milder disease wave driven by Omicron variant.

Early reports suggest that Omicron variants are responsible for fourth wave infections. This was evident when the country reported a record-breaking number of daily cases earlier in the week. Scientists disagree, however, and say it’s too soon to draw any firm conclusions.

Joe Phaahla, Health Minister of India stated that Omicron might not be less dangerous but that coverage of vaccines (and) natural immunity for people who have had direct contact with the virus are also contributing to protection. We are now seeing mild disease.

South Africa gave 44% of its adults at least one COVID-19 vaccination, which is more than other African countries. However it fell short of the year-end government target. The vaccination coverage rates for the over-50s is over 60%.

Michelle Groome of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases addressed the conference. She stated that COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations have increased.

Groome stated that while there has been an increase in national deaths, this is still a much smaller number than what was seen between the first and third waves.

Phaahla indicated that there were early indications that the infection rate might have risen in Gauteng’s most populous province. There, cases had previously soared. The health department will report to the National Coronavirus Command Council in the next week on COVID-19 restrictions.