In this April 21, 2021 photo, tourists spend their afternoon in New Zealand's scenic Queenstown. (ANDREW LEESON / AFP)
TEHRAN / BAGHDAD / KUWAIT CITY / KATHMANDU / WELLINGTON / DOHA – The New Zealand government has invested NZ$1.4 billion (US$1 billion) in its COVID-19 vaccination program to ensure free vaccination for everyone, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said on Wednesday.
The government confirmed for the first time the amount of money it has allocated over two years for vaccines and the vaccination program, Hipkins said.
"The COVID-19 vaccination program is key to securing our economic recovery," he said, adding that effective and ongoing vaccination of the community will unlock economic opportunities and allow the country to safely reopen borders over time.
New Zealand has secured sufficient doses to vaccinate everyone in the country for free and to also support the Pacific neighbors. Additional vaccines deemed safe and effective can be deferred for later use and further donated to support the regional recovery, he said.
India
India's Serum Institute will prioritize making vaccines for its home country, delaying deliveries to other nations and the World HealthOrganization-backed COVAX initiative until the end of the year. The firm, the largest vaccine manufacturer, is licensed to churn out at least one billion doses of AstraZeneca’s shot.
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Iran
Iran reported on Tuesday 13,930 new COVID-19 cases, raising the country's total number to 2,779,415.
The pandemic has so far claimed 77,532 lives in Iran, up by 310 in the past 24 hours, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education said in a written briefing published on its official website.
Iraq
The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday 4,023 new coronavirus cases, raising the total nationwide number to 1,146,948.
A statement by the ministry also reported 34 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 16,029, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 6,198 to 1,056,885.
Japan
Okinawa in southern Japan will ask the central government to expand a coronavirus state of emergency to include the prefecture, Jiji reported in a one-line dispatch.
Kuwait
The Kuwaiti Health Ministry reported on Tuesday 1,084 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the country to 293,574.
The ministry also announced five more fatalities, taking the death toll in Kuwait to 1,701, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,100 to 279,924.
Malaysia
Malaysia reported its biggest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, adding pressure on the government to do more after imposing nationwide curbs on movement this month.
The country had 6,075 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, with the nation’s richest state Selangor contributing the most number of new infections with 2,251 cases, according to Health Director General Noor Hisham Abdullah in a tweet. This was followed by the southern state of Johor at 699 and capital city of Kuala Lumpur at 660, he said.
Daily coronavirus deaths in Malaysia in the past two weeks have surged to records amid the detection of new variants. Selangor has led the spike in daily infections in May, spurring calls for a full lockdown of the state that is home to businesses including the world’s top rubber glove manufacturers.
Men wearing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) suits stand next to funeral pyres of COVID-19 coronavirus victims at a cremation ground in Kathmandu on May 18, 2021. (PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP)
Nepal
The Nepali government on Tuesday confirmed the presence of four variants of COVID-19 in Nepal, including those which are more infectious and can spread among all age groups of people.
The presence of two variants, namely B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2, both first spotted in India, was established during the gene sequencing of 35 samples at India's CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO), according to Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population.
The first variant was affirmed in a single sample while the second was found in 34 samples, the ministry said in a press statement.
Qatar
The Qatari health ministry on Tuesday announced 370 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total confirmed number in the Gulf state to 213,855, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
Meanwhile, 818 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 208,614, while the death toll increased by four to 536, according to a ministry statement quoted by QNA.
Children walk home with their guardians after school in Singapore on May 17, 2021, as the country prepares to shut all schools and switch to home-based learning until the end of the term due to a rise in the number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Singapore
Employees at DBS, HSBC and Mizuho Bank Ltd were among 27 new coronavirus cases identified in the local community by Singapore authorities on Tuesday as the number of unlinked infections in the country persists.
Eleven of the 27 confirmed cases in the community have not been traceable. There are now 19 active virus clusters in the country, up from 11 a week earlier, according to health ministry data. The government is lengthening the time between vaccination doses in an effort to administer first shots to more adults as it races to stem transmissions.
Singapore's Ministry of Health reported 38 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, including 27 locally transmitted cases and 11 imported ones, bringing the total tally to 61,651.
READ MORE: Malaysia mulls shutdown of richest state amid virus surge
Thailand
Infections continued to spread among inmates and workers in Thai prisons, accounting for almost half the country’s daily cases.
Thailand on Wednesday reported 3,394 new infections and 29 fatalities, bringing the nation’s total caseloads to 116,949 and 678, respectively. Some 1,498 of the new cases were from prisons.
More than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in about a dozen densely-packed Thai prisons.