People walk past a sign encouraging people to get vaccinated in Melbourne on Aug 31, 2021. (WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
SUVA / HANOI / SINGAPORE / JERUSALEM / TOKYO / BAGHDAD / SYDNEY / KUALA LUMPUR / NEW DELHI / SEOUL / ISLAMABAD – Australia said on Thursday it would expand the rollout of the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccines from next week as it battles a steady rise in hospital admissions fueled by the highly transmissible new Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5.
The new subvariants have now become the dominant coronavirus strains in several countries, with pandemic experts warning they could lead to more hospitalisations and deaths because they spread more quickly than other coronavirus variants.
New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, warned it was experiencing a fresh wave of infections driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants. Meanwhile, Victoria said these have become the dominant strains in the state.
"The pandemic is not over, we are entering a third wave that is placing enormous pressure on our health and hospital system," Health Minister Mark Butler said during a media briefing.
About 4,000 people are currently in hospitals in Australia suffering from COVID-19, the biggest count since early February, authorities said, when Australia endured its previous significant Omicron outbreak.
From Monday, people aged above 30 will be eligible for the fourth dose, Butler said, after Australia's immunisation advisory group updated its recommendations.
The changes will make more than 7 million people eligible for their second booster shot. The vaccination has been restricted up to now to people above 65 or with serious illness.
Australia on Wednesday scrapped a rule that required international travellers to declare their COVID-19 vaccination status, marking the end of another major restriction.
Australia, among the most heavily vaccinated countries against COVID-19, has so far administered two doses to 95 percent of people above 16. More than 70 percent have been given a third shot, official data showed.
A health worker speaks to arrivals at a COVID-19 vaccination hub at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in Brisbane on Aug 17, 2021. (PATRICK HAMILTON / AFP)
In another development, the Australian state of Queensland is on the verge of a new wave of COVID-19, and health authorities warned hospitals strain could be the worst yet.
Queensland reported 5,980 new COVID-19 cases and 17 deaths on Thursday. There were 697 people in the hospital including 15 in intensive care.
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath told Australia's national broadcaster ABC on Thursday that hospitalizations were due to peak in late July or early August.
"We're hearing that it could be equal to the first big wave that we had of Omicron at the start of the year," she said.
"Or it could even be higher than that."
According to the health minister, there have been over 2,000 health care workers absent because of COVID-19.
The State branch of Australia's peak medical body, the Australian Medical Association (AMA), said on Wednesday that as "workforce is being decimated," health authorities and professionals will soon discuss the restrictions on elective surgery, visiting rules, in-and-out patient restrictions in the next step.
AMA Queensland is also warning against the low booster vaccine rate in the state and urging people to stay up to date with the immunization.
Traditional dancers in grass skirts welcome holidaymakers in Nadi on Dec 1, 2021, as Fiji opens its borders to international travelers for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe and devastated its tourism-reliant economy. (LEON LORD / AFP)
Fiji
Fiji's Ministry of Health rolled out on Wednesday the Pfizer paediatric COVID-19 vaccination for 132,893 children aged five to 11 years in the country.
Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Health James Fong said this is to ensure that children in the island nation are well protected, according to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC).
Fong said the government is committed to equitably allocating sufficient doses to vaccinate all the eligible children.
According to the ministry, all schools have been contacted to be potential vaccination sites. The health facilities will also host vaccine clinics on weekends and school holidays.
The South Pacific island nation, with a population of around 900,000, has reported more than 65,000 COVID-19 cases, with 866 deaths, since March 2020 when it recorded the first confirmed case.
India
India reported 18,930 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,566,739, showed the data released by the country's federal health ministry on Thursday.
A total of 438,005 COVID-19 tests were conducted across the country in the past 24 hours, added the ministry.
Besides, 35 deaths from the pandemic since Wednesday morning took the total death toll to 525,305.
The number of active cases in the country rose to 119,457 with a rise of 4,245 active cases during the past 24 hours. This is the highest single-day jump in the number of active cases in the past couple of months
An Iraqi medical worker prepares a treatment at the coronavirus ward of Al-Shifa Hospital in the capital Baghdad, on Feb 20, 2022. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
Iraq
Iraq is witnessing a noticeable rebound in the COVID-19 infections as the country's health ministry reported on Wednesday 4,819 new cases during the past 24 hours, the highest daily hike since Feb 8.
The newly registered cases raised the nationwide caseload to 2,369,272, while the death toll from the virus rose by two to 25,249, according to a statement by the health ministry.
The Iraqi health authority warned recently against a new wave of COVID-19 infections, citing high vaccine hesitancy and lack of public attention to preventive measures.
Iraq has been pushing forward its vaccination drive since the drug authority approved in January 2021 the emergency use of China's Sinopharm vaccine and other COVID-19 vaccines.
An Israeli paramedic collects a swab sample from a child at the Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) COVID-19 coronavirus testing center in Jerusalem on Jan 11, 2022. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)
Israel
The Israeli Ministry of Health on Wednesday announced in a statement that it has allowed the administration of COVID-19 vaccines to children and toddlers aged six months to five years.
The announcement came after the ministry's Director General Nachman Ash accepted a recommendation by a panel of experts given last week to allow vaccination at these ages. All the panel members opined that the vaccine has a high safety profile, the ministry noted.
The ministry will update on the availability of vaccines for children under five years old at the health maintenance organizations (HMOs) clinics across the country in the coming weeks, it added.
The vaccine is especially recommended for children at risk of severe COVID-19 illness due to underlying health conditions that impair the immune system, the ministry noted.
Israel has lowered the minimum eligibility age for vaccination from 12 to five years in November 2021. Since then, 22.8 percent of about one million children aged five to 11 in Israel have been vaccinated, according to the ministry's data.
A woman wearing a face mask checks out her mobile phone as she walks across an intersection of the famed Ginza shopping district in Tokyo on June 3, 2022. (HIRO KOMAE / AP)
Japan
Newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan nearly doubled compared to a week earlier to more than 45,000 on Wednesday, surpassing the 40,000 mark for the first time since May 18 amid a resurgence of infections in the nation.
Higher confirmed numbers were reported in all 47 prefectures, with infections more than doubling in Tokyo, Osaka and Kanagawa prefectures compared to the previous week.
The resurgence was likely caused by a new Omicron sub-variant, fueling fears over the onset of the seventh wave of infections.
Tokyo reported 8,341 new cases on Wednesday, compared with 3,803 on the same day last week, according to the metropolitan government. The capital city confirmed 5,302 new cases on Tuesday.
In Tokyo, the seven-day rolling average of new cases amounted to 4,426.6 per day, up 86.8 percent compared to the previous week.
Osaka and Kanagawa confirmed 4,621 and 3,038 new daily cases on Wednesday, respectively, bringing the nationwide tally of new daily COVID-19 infections to 45,821.
Fukuoka Prefecture in southwestern Japan reported 2,366 new cases, prompting the prefectural government to issue an alert and urge residents to take anti-virus measures.
Although COVID-19 infections declined across the nation since mid-May, they began to increase sharply in stages starting in late June, with newly confirmed cases exceeding 30,000 on Tuesday, as the BA.5 sub-variant began to spread and comprised an increasing share of the daily confirmed cases.
People walk with their luggage towards Malaysia, as seen from Sungai Kolok district in southern Thailand's Narathiwat province on June 1, 2022, after Malaysia and Thailand re-opened their land borders following the loosening of restrictions related to the coronavirus. (MADAREE TOHLALA / AFP)
Malaysia
Malaysia reported 3,561 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Wednesday, bringing the national total to 4,582,302, according to the health ministry.
There are nine new imported cases, with 3,552 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
Five new deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 35,792.
Pakistan
Pakistan reported 872 new COVID-19 cases and nine more deaths during the last 24 hours, the country's ministry of health said on Thursday.
The tally of infected people increased to 1,540,952 after adding the new cases, according to the data released by the ministry.
According to the ministry's statistics, a total of 30,413 people died from COVID-19 in Pakistan, with nine more deaths recorded on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, 23,125 tests for COVID-19 were conducted in Pakistan while the positivity rate stood at 3.77 percent.
Samoa
Samoa has reported 95 new COVID-19 cases in recent days, bringing the island nation's total number of community cases to 14,848.
According to the newspaper the Samoa Observer, Samoa's Ministry of Health confirmed on Wednesday that 95 COVID-19 cases were recorded from June 26 to July 3.
Currently, Samoa is under COVID-19 Alert Level 1, and the ministry urged the public to continue to follow health advice and adhere to the COVID-19 protocols.
While seeing vaccination still as the best defence against the severe effects of COVID-19, the ministry also called on eligible members of the public to visit the nearest hospital for their first or second dose and booster shot.
As of July 3, a total of 161,967 rapid antigen tests (RATs) have been administered in Samoa which has a population of just more than 200,000.
The COVID-19-related death toll in Samoa remains at 29.
Singapore Airlines stewardesses walk past a giant lollipop candy display at Changi International Airport in Singapore on April 1, 2022, as Singapore reopened its land and air borders to travelers fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. (ROSLOAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Singapore
Singapore reported 9,989 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total tally to 1,495,953.
Of the new cases, 837 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 9,152 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
Two deaths were reported from COVID-19 on Wednesday, taking the total death toll to 1,423, the ministry said.
South Korea
South Korea reported 18,511 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 18,451,862, the health authorities said Thursday.
The daily caseload was slightly down from 19,371 in the prior day, but it was far higher than 9,591 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 13,222.
Among the new cases, 194 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 36,510
Ten more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 24,593. The total fatality rate was 0.13 percent.
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 914 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, down by 75 from Tuesday, according to its Ministry of Health.
The infections brought the total tally to 10,751,227 with 43,089 deaths.
Nearly 234.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including approximately 207 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.