S’pore says discussing vaccine certification with other countries

People rest by the river during lunch time at Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore on February 16, 2021. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

JERUSELAM / SEOUL / DUBAI / NEW DELHI / SINGAPORE – Singapore is discussing the mutual recognition of vaccine certificates with other countries, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, calling it a necessary step towards resuming global travel.

Singapore, a regional travel and tourism hub, has been rolling out its COVID-19 vaccination program over the last two months. It has approved shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

 “Even if each of us gears up to secure our own supplies, we must cooperate internationally so that all countries including developing ones have access to vaccines for their people,” Lee said in a video recording posted on Facebook on Wednesday.

“We are also discussing mutual recognition of vaccine certification with interested countries,” he said. Lee did not specify the countries.

Singapore’s economy, which recorded its worst recession in 2020 due to the pandemic, is staging an uneven recovery this year and a return of more business and tourism travel would be a boost for the city state.

Greece, Spain and Britain are among other nations looking into the idea of vaccine certificates or so-called vaccine passports in a bid to revive economies and travel.

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported four new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 59,883.

Of the new cases, three are imported cases and one is linked with the dormitories of foreign workers.

On Tuesday, seven more cases of COVID-19 infection have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In all, 59,753 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities, the ministry said.

Australia

Two elderly Australians have been given a higher than recommended dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed on Wednesday.

Hunt said the 88-year-old man and 94-year-old woman in Queensland were being monitored but have not shown signs of adverse reaction to the doses.

It has been reported that they both received four times the recommended dose of the vaccine but Hunt could not confirm, saying an investigation was underway.

Restrictions in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) will further ease from Feb. 26 as vaccination rolled out and the no local case status continued.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Wednesday that restrictions would be eased across Greater Sydney and the state.

"With the rollout of the vaccine now underway, and no new locally acquired cases in NSW, we are able to make further changes towards a new 'COVID normal'," she said.

From Friday, residents will be able to have 50 visitors in the home. Class limits for gyms will be increased to 50 people from 30 but still subject to the four square meters rule. Capacity for cinemas will be increased to 100 percent.

Cambodia 

Cambodia on Wednesday confirmed 40 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 633, said a Ministry of Health (MoH) statement.

The new infections included 38 locally transmitted cases in capital Phnom Penh and southern Kandal province and two imported cases, the statement said, adding that the patients are undergoing treatment at various designated COVID-19 hospitals.

Cambodia has closed all schools, museums, cinemas and entertainment facilities in Phnom Penh and Kandal province for at least two weeks in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.

Fiji

Fiji reported Wednesday one new imported COVID-19 case, a 30-year-old male who arrived in Fiji's third largest city of Nadi on Feb. 18 from Manila, the Philippines.

The man returned a weak positive result during routine testing while undergoing the mandatory 14-day quarantine in Nadi. Based on the test result, and current lack of symptoms, he is considered a historical case, who was likely infected and recovered multiple weeks or months before entering Fiji.

India

India warned on Wednesday that a breach of guidelines on testing and other measures to contain the coronavirus could worsen a recent spurt in infections in many states, particularly after it detected several variants.

Nearly a month after the health minister declared that COVID-19 had been contained, states such as Maharashtra in the west and Kerala in the south have reported a surge in cases, as reluctance grows over mask-wearing and social distancing norms.

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 11,030,176 on Wednesday as 13,742 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the health ministry.

The death toll mounted to 156,567 as 104 COVID-19 patients died since Tuesday morning.

There are still 146,907 active cases in the country, while 10,726,702 people have been discharged from hospitals after medical treatment.

There was a decrease of 399 active cases during the past 24 hours. The number of active cases in India had been on the rise over the past few days.

Indonesia

Indonesia started the COVID-19 vaccination for teachers and school staff on Wednesday, President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday.

According to the head of state, Jakarta has started the vaccination, and 33 other provinces will follow.

The target is that 5 million teachers and school staff members would have been vaccinated by June 2021.

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 7,533 within one day to 1,306,141, with the death toll adding by 240 to 35,254, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

Iran

Iranian health authorities said on Wednesday that 112 people infected with the mutant variant of coronavirus have been identified in the country, official IRNA news agency reported.

Iran reported 8,330 new COVID-19 cases and 91 more deaths from the infectious disease on Tuesday, raising its tally of infections to 1,590,605 and its death toll to 59,663. The tally of recoveries in Iran surged by 7,151 to 1,358,541.

READ MORE: Afghanistan begins vaccination drive amid rising violence

Iraq

Iraq sets a yearly new record in daily COVID-19 infections on Tuesday with 4,181 new confirmed cases.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported 4,181 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily record in 2021, bringing the total nationwide infections to 675,982.

It also reported 16 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,311, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 2,592 to 623,337.

Ultra-orthodox Jewish men, some wearing the traditional Jewish prayer shawls known as Tallit, pray in divided sections at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's old city on Feb 23, 2021. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Israel

Israel will transfer coronavirus vaccines to at least 19 countries, according to a Kan News report.

Nations that will receive shipments of 1,000 to 5,000 doses of Moderna Inc. vaccine include Cyprus, Mauritania, Hungary, Honduras, Guatemala, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Maldives, San Marino, Ethiopia, Chad, Kenya and Uganda, Kan said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday confirmed an earlier report that Israel would send limited amounts of surplus vaccine to the Palestinian Authority and a number of countries.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz criticized the premier, saying that the issue should have been open for public discussion, or at the very least, brought to the appropriate forums.

“The fact that Netanyahu is trading in the vaccines that belong to the citizens of Israel that paid for them through their taxes, without any accountability, shows that he thinks he is running a kingdom, rather than a state,” Gantz said on Twitter.

Israel's special cabinet dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic approved on Tuesday a three-day night curfew to contain the spread of the virus during the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim.

The nationwide curfew will be imposed from Thursday to Sunday and will last from 8:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) to 5 a.m.(0300 GMT) the next morning, according to a government statement.

During the curfew, public transportation between cities will be halted in order to discourage people from taking part in the traditional Purim activities.

Israel reported 4,329 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the total confirmed tally in the country to 758,810. The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 5,631 after 38 new fatalities were added, while the total recoveries rose to 712,002, with 2,806 newly recovered cases.

The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel has surpassed 4.5 million, or 48.4 percent of the total population, since the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020.

Japan

Regional Japanese governments have requested emergency pandemic measures be lifted ahead of the March 7 scheduled end as new COVID-19 cases trend lower, the country’s economy minister said, adding the government will seek expert views before agreeing.

A surge in cases prompted Japan to announce a state of emergency last month for 11 prefectures, requesting residents to curtail activities and businesses to shorten operating hours.

The state of emergency would likely be lifted in stages though businesses would be asked to continue closing early, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Wednesday.

Japan recorded 1,083 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, national broadcaster NHK reported, compared with a peak of almost 8,000 on Jan. 8. New infections in Tokyo have fallen to levels not seen since November.

Jordan

Jordan recorded 4,139 new coronavirus infections and 19 more deaths, pushing its tally on confirmed COVID-19 cases to 372,417 and its death toll to 4,589. The total recoveries in Jordan climbed by 1,855 to 339,214.

Kuwait

Kuwait confirmed 1,015 new COVID-19 cases and eight more deaths, taking its total confirmed infections to 186,004 and death toll to 1,057. The total recoveries in Kuwait rose by 906 to 174,088.

Lebanon

Lebanon registered on Tuesday 2,723 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 359,320. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that the number of deaths from the virus in Lebanon went up by 59 to 4,446.

ALSO READ: Duterte wants vaccinations before further easing virus curbs

Malaysia 

Malaysia launched its national immunization program on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin being the first to be vaccinated.

Muhyiddin received the shot on live television in a bid to build confidence of the vaccine among the public. He was joined by Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah and four frontliners, who also received their shots.

This would be Malaysia's largest vaccination program ever, aiming to inoculate at least 80 percent of the country's total population to achieve protection against COVID-19, which has infected over 280,000 people and caused over 1,000 deaths in the country so far.

The vaccination will be conducted in three phases: phase 1 for frontliners covering some half a million people, phase 2 for high-risk groups and phase 3 for all adults aged 18 and above with the whole exercise expected to be completed by February next year.

Maldives

The critical task of ensuring that all countries have enough medical equipment to vaccinate people safely against COVID-19 gathered pace on Tuesday, with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) announcing that 100,000 syringes have been sent to the Maldives, ahead of an inoculation drive there.

The shipment is part of "the first wave" of syringes and safety boxes organized by the agency, which over the next few weeks, plans to dispatch more than 14.5 million single-use needles to more than 30 countries, including Cote d'Ivoire and Sao Tome and Principe.

These include the 0.5 milliliter syringes which are meant for use with the AstraZeneca vaccine, while the 0.3 milliliter version is for the Pfizer-BioNTech shot.

Mongolia 

Mongolia reported 32 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 2,755, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Wednesday.

The latest cases were detected in the country's capital Ulan Bator, the NCCD said in a statement.

Over 75 percent of the total patients in the country have recovered from the disease, the center said.

Myanmar

The number of COVID-19 cases rose to 141,816 in Myanmar on Wednesday, according to a release from the Health and Sports Ministry.

Myanmar reported 33 new COVID-19 cases and no death in the past 24 hours, the ministry's said.

A total of 141,405 recovered patients have been discharged from hospitals so far, and 1,112 samples were tested on Wednesday, down from around 10,000 samples tested daily in the first week of this month.

New Zealand

A second batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines have arrived at the Auckland International Airport, New Zealand's COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said on Wednesday.

"This shipment contained about 76,000 doses, and follows our first shipment of 60,000 doses that arrived last week. We expect further shipments of vaccine over the coming weeks," Hipkins told a press conference.

Oman

In Oman, the supreme committee tasked with fighting the COVID-19 pandemic decided to impose a two-week ban on travelers from Sudan, Lebanon, South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia, starting on Thursday, to curb the pandemic's spread, local media reported on Tuesday.

The Omani health ministry on Wednesday announced 311 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total confirmed number in the sultanate to 140,300, official Oman News Agency reported.

Qatar

The Qatari Health Ministry on Tuesday announced 455 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 161,344.

Qatar's tally of recoveries from the virus climbed by 510 to 151,225, while the total fatalities remained unchanged at 257 for the second day running, according to a ministry statement.  

South Korea

Participants take part in the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccination mock drill at a vaccination center in Seoul on Feb 9, 2021. (KIM HONG-JI / POOL / AFP)

South Korea shipped its first doses of a coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday, transferring AstraZeneca vaccines from a production facility in the country to a warehouse outside the capital of Seoul in preparation for this week's inoculation drive.

Healthcare workers are scheduled to receive the first batch of AstraZeneca PLC's vaccine from Friday, as South Korea looks to protect 10 million high-risk people by July, on its way to reaching herd immunity by November.

AstraZeneca shots enough for about 750,000 people will be distributed from a production facility of SK Chemicals Co Ltd unit SK bioscience to immunisation centres across the country starting on Wednesday.

"We start the first historic vaccination on Friday with the vaccines rolled out today," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a government meeting. "This is the first step that will lead us to a long-waited return to normal."

South Korea reported 440 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 88,120.

The daily caseload was up from 356 in the previous day, rising above 400 for three days.

The daily number of infections hovered above 100 since Nov. 8, 2020 owing to cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

Of the new cases, 138 were Seoul residents and 137 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Twenty-three cases were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 6,963.

Thailand

The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines that Thailand ordered from China's Sinovac Biotech arrived in the capital Bangkok Wednesday, with the country's national inoculation program likely to start in a few days.

The 200,000 doses, the first shipment among 2 million doses Thailand ordered from the Chinese biopharmaceutical firm, were delivered by a Thai Airways International cargo flight from Beijing to Bangkok.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, as well as Chinese Embassy official Yang Xin were at the airport for the handover of the vaccines.

"Today is a historic day with the reception of the first lot of vaccine," Prayut said at the vaccine handover ceremony, expressing his gratitude for China's timely delivering of the vaccines.

"Without any unexpected problems, subsequent lots will arrive as planned," he said.

Calling it another major progress in bilateral anti-pandemic cooperation, Yang Xin said he hoped the Sinovac vaccines would play an active role in supporting Thailand's fight against COVID-19.

"We are confident in the vaccine," Nakorn Premsri, director of Thailand's National Vaccine Institute, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

Nakorn said the Chinese vaccine has been widely used in many countries and has shown good result of safety profile and efficacy, especially among medical workers that have a higher risk of infection. "Millions of doses of the vaccine have been used. So far we have not got any reports regarding severe reaction. That's the reason we chose the vaccine."

Thailand approved the Sinovac vaccine for emergency use on Monday, and the authorization will be valid for one year, according to Anutin.

Upon the vaccines' arrival, three days would be required for the final inspection before the national vaccination campaign begins, Prayut said.

The first batch of the Sinovac vaccines will be distributed to 13 provinces, including Bangkok, and administered to at-risk groups, including medical workers, close contacts with COVID-19 patients and people with certain chronic illnesses.

A second batch of 800,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccines is scheduled to arrive in Thailand next month, followed by a third batch of the remaining 1 million doses.

Thailand has set a three-staged national inoculation program, aiming to vaccinate enough of the general population to create herd immunity. Besides the Sinovac vaccines, it would also use AstraZeneca vaccines.

As of Wednesday, the Southeast Asian nation's total COVID-19 tally rose to 25,692.

The Philippines

The Philippines health ministry said on Wednesday it will investigate the illegal use of unauthorised COVID-19 vaccines, after a presidential advisor admitted to receiving shots of a Sinopharm vaccine smuggled into the country.

The Philippines is due to receive its first vaccine shipments from Sinovac Biotech by Feb. 28 and can start inoculations a day after, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said. The Chinese drugmaker said it needs a week to prepare the delivery and is coordinating with the Philippine customs bureau.

President Rodrigo Duterte is “perplexed” with the local regulator’s decision not to recommend Sinovac shots to health workers, Roque said.

The UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported 3,005 new COVID-19 cases and five more fatalities, taking its tally of infections to 375,535 and its death toll to 1,145. The total recoveries in the UAE soared by 3,515 to 366,567.

Turkey

Turkey on Tuesday confirmed 9,107 new COVID-19 cases, including 633 symptomatic patients, taking the total number of positive cases in the country to 2,655,633.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 75 to 28,213, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,534,996 after 5,546 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours, according to the Turkish health ministry.

The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients in Turkey stands at 4.2 percent and the number of seriously ill patients was 1,185, said the ministry.

A total of 123,734 tests were conducted over the past day, raising the overall number of tests in Turkey to 32,560,732.

Vietnam

The first batch of AstraZeneca vaccines will arrive in Vietnam on Wednesday having been approved by the Health Ministry this month, Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

Vietnam signed a deal with AstraZeneca to acquire about 30 million doses, and it expects to get another 30 million through the World Health Organization-backed Covax program in the second half of the year. The government is in talks to buy more vaccine doses.

Yemen

Hospitals should prepare for a possible second wave of coronavirus and take steps to prevent its spread, health authorities in the government-controlled part of Yemen said on Wednesday.

Testing and reporting are limited in the war-torn country, but confirmed cases have risen in the past 10 days, after having levelled off since September to just a couple of new cases a day.

Eleven new cases were reported on Tuesday and Monday each by the supreme national emergency committee for the internationally recognised government.

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan will conduct COVID-19 vaccinations on a voluntary basis, a top Uzbek official said Wednesday as the Central Asian nation prepares to start mass vaccinations.

"Vaccination in our country will be carried out on a voluntary basis. If a person refuses to be vaccinated, no measures will be taken against him (or her)," Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Behzod Musayev told deputies in a meeting, of which excerpts were broadcast on local television.

No officials or employers have the right to dismiss a person from work if he or she refuses to be vaccinated, he added.