(Bloomberg) --

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged residents to get vaccinated without delay, as the government prepares for a surge in hospitalizations to deal with a fourth wave of coronavirus infections driven by the omicron variant.

Ramaphosa plans to convene a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council soon to review the state of the pandemic, he said in his weekly newsletter.

“While we do not yet know what impact the omicron variant will have on hospital admissions, we have been preparing hospitals to admit more patients, and we are investigating how we can quickly secure medication for treating Covid-19,” he said.

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