A Muslim woman uses her phone as she walks by names of health care workers who died of COVID-19 engraved on Pandemic Heroes Monument, in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia on Oct 12, 2021. (DITA ALANGKARA / AP)
SYDNEY / ANKARA / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / YANGON / JAKARTA / HANOI / WELLINGTON / KUALA LUMPUR / TOKYO / DHAKA / ISLAMABAD / NEW DELHI / ULAN BATOR / MANILA / BENGALURU – Indonesia will start administer COVID-19 booster shots for the public after 50 percent of the population are fully vaccinated, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said Monday.
"Booster vaccination is a sensitive issue related to equality. There are still countries that have not yet obtained access to COVID-19 vaccines," Sadikin said at a parliamentary hearing which was held in a hybrid way.
The booster vaccines will be prioritized for the elderly with a higher mortality rate and will then be given free of charge to the poor, while others have to pay for their jabs
As Indonesia has reached 39 percent of the current second doses of vaccines, Sadikin said that the booster would begin at the end of December, earlier than the initial plan to start in early 2022.
The booster vaccines will be prioritized for the elderly with a higher mortality rate and will then be given free of charge to the poor, while others have to pay for their jabs.
The Indonesian government has extended its public mobility restrictions, locally known as PPKM, outside Java and Bali from Nov 9 to Nov 22, as the transmission has decreased up to 97.5 percent compared to the peak of the second wave of coronavirus infection in July.
Meanwhile, the restrictions in Java and Bali have been extended until Nov 15.
Meanwhile, Indonesia is reviewing a COVID-19 experimental antiviral pill produced by Merck & Co Inc for domestic use, its food and drug agency (BPOM) chief said on Monday, ahead of a possible purchase of up to 1 million doses next month.
Penny K. Lukito, BPOM chief, told a parliamentary hearing the process for registering the drug was underway.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said Indonesia plans to purchase 600,000 to 1 million doses of the Merck pill in December.
State-owned and private companies have been invited to apply for patent licensing to produce the pills at home, he said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia plans to give booster shots to the general public after 50 percent of its population has been fully vaccinated, the minister said on Monday, which he expects to happen at the end of next month.
Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country and once Asia's COVID-19 epicenter, has inoculated 29 percent of its population of 270 million people, using a variety of vaccine brands.
The minister told a parliamentary hearing the government decided on boosters at the 50 percent mark due to vaccine inequity concerns at home or abroad.
"Issues of injustice or ethics are so high in the world, because some countries haven't gotten a lot of first shots," he said.
Given for free, Budi said the plan prioritizes the elderly and the poor who are insured by the government, while the rest of the population may have to pay for them. Many health workers have already received boosters.
People walk past a sign encouraging people to get vaccinated in Melbourne on Aug 31, 2021 as the city experiences it's sixth lockdown as it battles an outbreak of the Delta variant of coronavirus. (WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
Australia
Australia will begin administering booster shots of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine from Monday as millions in its largest city, Sydney, woke up to more freedom amid an accelerating immunization drive against the coronavirus.
Australia's vaccination rate has picked up pace since July, after widely missing its initial targets, when its southeast was hit by a third wave of infections triggered by the highly infectious Delta variant forcing months-long lockdowns.
Sydney and Melbourne, its largest cities and worst hit by the Delta wave, have been racing through their inoculations before gradually relaxing restrictions.
Life will return close to normal on Monday in New South Wales, home to Sydney, as the state nears its 90 percent dual-dose vaccinations in people above 16.
There will be no limit on the number of fully vaccinated guests at homes, while restaurants and entertainment venues can allow more patrons.
Amid a vaccine-driven shift to more freedom, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said more than 173,000 booster shots have already been administered in aged care centres and for some health workers ahead of Monday's formal rollout.
The booster doses will be given to people 18 and over who took their second shot more than six months ago. Double-dose vaccination levels in Australia topped 80 percent over the weekend.
With about 181,600 cases and 1,827 deaths, Australia's coronavirus numbers are among the lowest in the developed world.
But Australia's coronavirus death toll for 2021 has surpassed that of 2020. On Monday morning, Australia reported more than 1,300 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases and 12 deaths, taking the nation's pandemic death toll to 1827.
Of those, 918 have occurred in 2021 compared to 909 in 2020.
ALSO READ: Australia hits 80% full virus vaccine rate for people 16 and up
Bangladesh
Vaccination drive in Bangladesh has so far reached 70 million doses, and the figure would top 120 million by January next year if current trend continues, Bangladeshi health minister Zahid Maleque has said.
Bangladesh has purchased a total of 210 million doses of the vaccines. Right at this moment, there is no shortage of supply, the minister said Sunday.
According to the minister, More than 30 million of the ordered vaccine doses are scheduled to reach the country by this month, and another 30 million doses will arrive in December.
India
India has placed an order for 10 million doses of Zydus Cadila's DNA COVID-19 vaccine at a price of 265 rupees ($3.57) per dose, the drugmaker said on Monday.
The three-dose vaccine, ZyCoV-D, was approved by the country's drug regulator in August for emergency use in adults and children aged 12 years and above.
As opposed to traditional syringes, it is administered using a needle-free "PharmaJet" applicator, which will be sold at 93 rupees per dose.
"The needle-free application of the vaccination, we hope, will motivate many more to vaccinate and safeguard themselves from COVID-19," Sharvil Patel, managing director of Zydus, said in a filing to the stock exchanges.
The total cost to the government to inoculate a person with the vaccine and the applicator would come up to 1,074 rupees ($14.48).
India has so far administered nearly 1.09 billion vaccine doses to its adult population, of which 88% have received a version of AstraZeneca's shot by the Serum Institute of India, which sells it to the state governments at 400 rupees a dose and to private hospitals for 600 rupees.
The two other shots used are a home-grown one by vaccine maker Bharat Biotech and Russia's Sputnik V. Bharat Biotech supplies its vaccine at 150 rupees a dose, while Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, the supplier of Sputnik V, has priced the shot at 995 rupees.
The 265 rupee price had been decided in consultation with the government, Zydus said.
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 tally rose to 34,366,987 on Monday as 11,451 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, as many as 266 deaths due to the pandemic has been reported since Sunday morning, taking the total death toll to 461,057.
Israel
Israel will allow groups of tourists to enter the country even if they haven’t had booster jabs, the country’s health and tourism ministers said on Monday. Permits will be limited to tourists from “green” or “yellow” countries who have been vaccinated, even if more than six months have gone by from the last shot. Testing will be required.
Each group will remain in a “capsule” and be kept away from crowded areas. The decision is notable since Israeli residents must have booster shots or have been vaccinated in the past six months in order to enter places such as restaurants, gyms, cinemas and sporting events.
People wearing protective masks walk around the famed Shibuya scramble crossing in a shopping and entertainment district on Oct 25, 2021 in Tokyo. (KIICHIRO SATO / AP)
Japan
Japan recorded no daily deaths from COVID-19 for the first time in more than a year on Sunday, according to local media.
Prior to Sunday, there hadn't been a day without a COVID-19 death since Aug 2, 2020, according to a tally by national broadcaster NHK. The latest figures from the health ministry showed three deaths on Saturday.
COVID-19 cases and deaths have fallen dramatically throughout Japan as vaccinations have increased to cover more than 70 percent of the population.
New daily infections peaked at more than 25,000 during an August wave driven by the infectious Delta variant. The country has had more than 18,000 deaths from the disease during the course of the pandemic.
To gird against a possible rebound this winter, the government plans to start booster vaccine shots next month and is working to secure pill-based treatments for milder cases to reduce hospitalizations.
In another development, the Japanese government on Monday began accepting applications under a fresh COVID-19 quarantine rule, allowing to reduce the quarantine periods for vaccinated business travelers, and resume accepting applications from people who would stay for long-term including students and technical trainees.
Under the new rules, vaccinated business travelers who are on visits of up to three months will only undergo quarantine for three days, compared with the 10 that formerly applied to vaccinated Japanese nationals and foreigners with residency in Japan when returning from business trips.
Companies accepting business travelers will need to submit documentation including written pledges to follow anti-COVID-19 measures and the planned activities by the travelers upon arrival in Japan.
In addition, travelers applied by the reduced quarantine rule need to be tested for COVID-19 before departing for Japan as well as three days after arriving in the country.
It may take a week or two before the first travelers who have been granted shorter COVID-19 quarantine periods arrive in the country, a health ministry official said.
The quarantine period for people staying for long-term will be 14 days in principle, however, if they received vaccines approved in Japan, the quarantine period could be shortened to 10 days.
A man wearing a face mask walk in front of a closed store front with advertisements for property rentals in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Oct 18, 2021. (VINCENT THIAN / AP)
Malaysia
Malaysia reported another 4,343 new COVID-19 infections, as of midnight Sunday, bringing the national total to 2,506,309, according to the health ministry.
Some nine of the new cases are imported, with 4,334 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
Another 35 more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 29,291.
Mongolia
Mongolia on Monday reported 450 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, the lowest daily figure since May 18, bringing the national tally to 368,600, according to the country's health ministry.
The country's COVID-19 death toll rose to 1,744 after eight more people died from the viral disease in the past day.
Myanmar
The number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar rose to 506,816 on Sunday after 818 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours, according to a release from the Ministry of Health.
The release said 17 new deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 18,821 in the country as of Sunday.
People receive a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Otara, Auckland, New Zealand, Oct 26, 2021. (DEAN PURCELL / NEW ZEALAND HERALD VIA AP)
New Zealand
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern further eased COVID-19 restrictions in Auckland and said the country’s largest city is on track to exit lockdown by the end of the month.
Auckland retailers and malls can reopen on Nov 10, Ardern said Monday in Wellington. The government expects Auckland to reach the milestone of being 90 percent fully vaccinated within weeks, allowing to it to move out of most remaining lockdown restrictions, though residents may still not be allowed to leave the city, she said.
“Cabinet has a check-in on Nov 29 and there is a strong expectation that Auckland will likely move into the COVID-19 Protection Framework following this check-in,” Ardern said, referring to the new traffic-light system that will see New Zealand move away from large-scale lockdowns.
Auckland has been locked down for 83 days in an attempt to suppress the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 while vaccination rates increase. Most of the rest of New Zealand is largely free of restrictions, though social distancing and mask-wearing is required in indoor public spaces.
Even when Auckland comes out of lockdown, it is unlikely residents will be able to travel out of the city until vaccination rates in the rest of the country are higher, Ardern said.
“Obviously for the Auckland border, it’s not just about Auckland,” she said. “It’s about the status of the rest of the country and their vaccinations.”
There were new 190 infections in the community reported on Monday, the Ministry of Health said, the second highest daily total.
ALSO READ: Malaysia's COVID-19 infections surpass 2.5m
Pakistan
Pakistan on Sunday reported 449 new COVID-19 cases and nine more deaths, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Monday.
The NCOC, a department leading campaign against the pandemic, said that the country has conducted 21,143,023 tests so far, confirming overall 1,277,160 cases, including 1,225,880 recoveries.
Philippines
The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,087 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 2,805,294.
It is reported that 91 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the national death toll to 44,521.
The active cases or the number of people still fighting the deadly disease dropped further to 32,077.
People wearing face masks ride on a mass rapid transit train in Singapore on Nov 5, 2021. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Singapore
Singapore and Malaysia will allow quarantine-free travel between both countries for individuals vaccinated against COVID-19, they said in a joint statement on Monday.
The two neighbors will launch a so-called vaccinated travel lane between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Nov 29, it said.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s infection rate fell to 0.81, the lowest level in the latest viral wave and matching the level last reached Friday, Ministry of Health data showed.
The intensive-care utilization rate dipped to 69.9 percent Sunday from 72.8 percent the day before, when it touched the highest in more than a week. The city-state added 2,553 new cases and 17 deaths.
Turkey
Turkey on Sunday confirmed 25,304 new COVID-19 cases, raising its total tally of infections to 8,231,679, according to its health ministry.
The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 200 to 72,127, while 28,852 more recovered in the last 24 hours.
Thailand
Thailand reported 39 COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, the lowest single-day tally since June 29, after the government accelerated vaccinations to facilitate a wider border reopening. Thailand also reported 7,592 new daily infections.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha has asked the Health Ministry to accelerate negotiations to purchase both Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s Molnupiravir. Expediting talks to procure the pills will allow Thailand to be one of the first countries in the queue, Prayuth said in a Facebook post.
Vietnamese military personnel stand guard at a checkpoint in Ho Chi Minh City on Aug 23, 2021, after the government imposed a stricter lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19 . (PHAM THO / AFP)
Vietnam
Vietnam reported 7,646 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, including 7,631 locally transmitted and 15 imported, according to the country's Ministry of Health.
Most of the community cases were detected in southern localities, including 1,009 in Ho Chi Minh City, 997 in Dong Nai province, and 826 in Binh Duong province.
The new infections brought the country's total tally to 968,684, with 22,531 deaths, the ministry said