A woman wearing a mask to curb the spread of coronavirus sits inside a bus in Jakarta, Indonesia on May 17, 2022. (DITA ALANGKARA / AP)
JAKARTA / MANILA / SINGAPORE / HANOI – Indonesia was mulling the rollout of the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccines as the pandemic is predicted to last longer than expected and the antibodies decline after six months of inoculation, Health Ministry spokesman Mohammad Syahril said on Friday.
The vulnerable groups such as medical workers, people with comorbidity, the elderly, and public workers will be prioritized to receive the fourth dose.
The COVID-19 vaccination rate in Indonesia has reached 97 percent for the first dose, 81 percent for the second dose, and 26 percent for the third dose.
Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist from Griffith University Australia, said a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is still needed to reduce hospitalization and mortality.
The presence of the Omicron BA.2.75 subvariant will make the pandemic duration last longer, while the transmission of BA.4 and BA.5 has not yet reached its peak, he said.
Indonesia confirmed 4,834 new cases on Friday, bringing the total tally to 6,159,328, with accumulated recoveries of 5,964,196 and deaths of 156,893.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 3,880 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Friday, bringing the national total to 4,644,115, according to the health ministry.
There are seven new imported cases, with 3,873 cases being local transmissions, data released by the ministry showed.
Another 14 new deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 35,902.
There are 48,668 active cases, with 50 being held in intensive care and 28 of those in need of assisted breathing.
The country reported 22,227 vaccine doses administered on Friday and 85.9 percent of the population have received at least one dose, 83.9 percent are fully vaccinated and 49.5 percent have received the first booster and 0.8 percent have received the second booster.
A health worker (right) walks past people queueing up for coronavirus swab tests outside a gymnasium in Manila on Jan 7, 2022. (STR / AFP)
Philippines
The Philippines reported 3,389 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,745,375.
Friday's tally is the highest since Feb 12. The Department of Health (DOH) said the number of active cases rose to 24,478. It tallied 1,169 new cases in Metro Manila, home to over 13 million people.
The DOH said 15 more people died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country's death toll to 60,656.
The Philippines reported the highest daily spike of 39,004 COVID-19 infections on Jan 15. It has fully vaccinated over 71.4 million people.
A notice warning people not to gather in groups larger than five persons as part of restrictions to hald the spread of the coronavirus is displayed at Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore on Jan 4, 2022. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Singapore
Singapore reported 8,983 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total tally to 1,645,092.
Of the new cases, 740 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 8,243 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
Among the PCR cases, 705 were local transmissions and 35 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 7,930 local transmissions and 313 imported cases, respectively.
Two deaths were reported from COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total death toll to 1,468, the ministry said.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 1,142 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, down by 150 from Thursday, according to its Ministry of Health.
The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 10,766,128. The country reported a new death from the pandemic on Friday, bringing the total fatalities to 43,092.
As of Friday, there were a total of 51 severe cases in need of assisted breathing in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.