This picture taken on Dec 13, 2021 shows a health worker preparing to vaccinate a herder with a coronavirus vaccine booster shot in Delgertsogt county, in Mongolia's Dundgobi province. (BYAMBASUREN BYAMBA-OCHIR / AFP)
ULAN BATOR / SINGAPORE / MANILA / HANOI – Mongolia will start vaccinating children aged five to 11 against COVID-19, the country's health ministry said Thursday.
"The vaccination will begin in August, and the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be given to children in two shots one month apart," the ministry said in a statement.
According to the ministry, there are 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine for children in the Asian country.
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 2,828 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,741,987.
Thursday's tally is the highest since Feb. 13 this year. The Department of Health (DOH) said the number of active cases jumped to 22,207 and the death toll remained unchanged at 60,641.
The DOH tallied over 1,000 new cases in Metro Manila, home to over 13 million people.
The Philippines reported the highest daily spike of 39,004 COVID-19 infections on Jan 15. The country has fully vaccinated over 71.4 million people of its more than 112 million population.
Singapore
Singapore reported 9,749 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total tally to 1,636,109.
Of the new cases, 766 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 8,983 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
Among the PCR cases, 728 were local transmissions and 38 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 8,590 local transmissions and 393 imported cases, respectively.
Three deaths were reported from COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 1,466, the ministry said.
A man passes walks past a billboard on the coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec 4, 2021. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 1,292 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, up by 130 from Wednesday, according to its Ministry of Health.
The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 10,764,986. The country reported no new deaths from the pandemic on Thursday, with the total fatalities staying at 43,091.
As of Thursday, there were a total of 44 severe cases in need of assisted breathing in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.
More than 241 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including nearly 210.5 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.