The Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics (“VIDA”) Research Unit of the
University of the Witwatersrand (“Wits”) South Africans had extensive immunity against severe Covid-19 disease and death prior to Omicron, due to high infections in the first 3 waves and vaccination. This is why when Omicron arrived, the country did not see a corresponding rise in hospitalisations and deaths.

This is according to a study which was led by researchers at the Wits Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (Wits-VIDA), and involved collaboration from scientists at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the South African Medical Research Council.