Residents wait to receive the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Kabul, Afghanistan, June 16, 2021. (RAHMAT GUL / AP)

SUVA / JERUSALEM / DUBAI / TOKYO / JAKARTA / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / COLOMBO / BANGKOK / ADEN / KABUL / HANOI / PHNOM PENH / DUBAI – The COVID-19 pandemic is spiraling out of control in Afghanistan, with cases rising 2,400 percent in the past month, hospitals filling up and medical resources quickly running out, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday.

More than a third of tests last week came back positive, the ICRC said.

"Afghanistan is at a crisis point in the battle to contain COVID-19 as hospital beds are full to capacity in the capital Kabul and in many areas," said Nilab Mobarez, acting president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, in a statement released by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Health authorities on Thursday registered 2,313 positive cases and a record 101 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. 

Major hospitals have closed their doors this week to new COVID-19 patients after an influx of cases left them with a lack of beds and oxygen shortages.

The ICRC warned that lack of vaccine access and hesitancy were exacerbating the situation. Less than 0.5 percent of Afghans have been fully vaccinated.

Yemen

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday dispatched a plane carrying a shipment of 60,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to war-ravaged Yemen, a government official told Xinhua.

The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), the UAE's humanitarian arm, delivered the first medical aid shipment to Yemen's strategic Island of Socotra in a bid to support the local authorities' efforts to combat the pandemic, the government source said on condition of anonymity.

"The first shipment that includes doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine will be distributed freely to provide greater protection for the vulnerable, the elderly and those with chronic diseases in Socotra," the source added.

Kuwait

Kuwait will allow non-citizens to enter the country from Aug 1 if they have been fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved by the Gulf state, the government said on Thursday.

A PCR test must be taken before flying and another during seven days of home quarantine on arrival.

In decisions carried by state news agency KUNA, Kuwait's cabinet also announced that only citizens who have been fully vaccinated can leave the country from Aug 1.

It also said that from June 27 only vaccinated people would be able to enter restaurants and cafes, health clubs, salons and large commercial spaces.

Cambodia

Cambodia on Thursday reported 625 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the national caseload to 40,782, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement.

Twelve more fatalities had been recorded, taking the death toll to 380, the ministry said.

Another 705 patients had recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 35,030.

To date, some 3.14 million out of the 10 million targeted adult population have received their first vaccine dose, MoH's secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said, adding that 2.62 million of them have been fully vaccinated with both shots.

Vietnam

Vietnam's health ministry on Thursday reported 515 new coronavirus cases, the highest number of new daily infections recorded since the virus was first detected in the country in January last year.

The Southeast Asian country has recorded 12,014 infections overall, along with 61 fatalities, the ministry said.

Brunei

Brunei reported one newly confirmed case of COVID-19 on Thursday, pushing the tally to 251.

According to the Ministry of Health, the case involves  a 52-year-old man who arrived in the country from Indonesia via Singapore on June 4. He was asymptomatic.

Investigation and contact tracing have confirmed no close contacts for the new case, who was quarantined upon arrival in the Southeast Asian country.

Indonesia

Indonesia reported on Thursday 12,624 new coronavirus cases, the biggest increase since Jan 30, health ministry data showed.

The total number of infections rose to 1,950,276 while the health ministry also reported 277 more COVID-19 deaths, taking total fatalities to 53,753.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan authorities on Thursday said the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 variant that was first identified in India had been detected for the first time in the community in capital Colombo.

Director of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of Sri Jayewardenepura University Chandima Jeewandara said the variant was detected in five samples obtained from the Dematagoda area in Colombo.

He said the variant was earlier detected on two occasions in Sri Lanka but from quarantine centers and not within the community.

Thailand

Thailand has administered 7,003,783 doses of COVID-19 vaccine so far, as the nation accelerates its vaccination to fight against the spread of the coronavirus.

More than 2.9 million doses have been given since the country launched its mass inoculation campaign 10 days ago, according to the data released by the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

A total of 5.1 million people, or about 7.3 percent of the country's nearly 70-million population, received their first shot as of Wednesday, the data showed.

Thailand reported 3,129 new cases and 30 deaths on Thursday, bringing the totals to 207,724 cases and 1,555 deaths, according to the CCSA.

The CCSA said quarantine measures for both Thai and international inbound travelers are likely to be modified from next month onwards.

Malaysia

Malaysia is looking into mixing two different COVID-19 vaccines to get better protection against coronavirus variants, according to Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

The country has received data from Germany where the AstraZeneca vaccine was used for the first dose and was followed by the Pfizer-BioNtech shot, Khairy said. A paper on this method, known as heterologous boost, has been presented to the national vaccination committee, he added.

“It’s possible that we will end up doing this because a lot of countries are doing this to boost the neutralizing antibodies,” Khairy said in an online forum late Wednesday. “We are watching this very closely. We don’t want to make a quick decision on this before getting more data.”

Malaysia is looking to speed up vaccinations to meet its goal of achieving herd immunity by year-end. The nation dispensed 215,876 shots on Wednesday, surpassing the government’s 200,000 daily target, Health Minister Adham Baba said in his tweet.

The country on Thursday reported another 5,738 COVID-19 cases and 60 more deaths, taking the tally to 678,764 and the toll to 4,202, the health ministry.

Boxes of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine are seen during vaccination at the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara (Sikh temple) in Dubai on Feb 28, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)

UAE

Some members of Abu Dhabi's ruling family are participating in a trial administering China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 3-17, the emirate's media office said.

The trial will monitor the immune response of 900 children "in preparation to vaccinate children in the near future", Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.

Sheikh Theyab bin Mohammed, a son of the United Arab Emirate's de facto ruler and Abu Dhabi's crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, accompanied his children, nieces and nephews to participate in the immune bridge study, it said.

The UAE in May approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use in children aged 12-15. Dubai, the second-largest member of the UAE federation, started inoculating that age group this month.

The UAE, which has among the world's highest immunization rates, on Wednesday registered 2,011 new coronavirus infections to take its total to 603,961 cases with 1,738 deaths. It does not provide a breakdown for each of its seven emirates.

New Zealand

New Zealand will take up to the end of the year to inoculate all those eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday, as she announced details of a vaccine campaign.

The Pacific island nation shut its borders and used tough lockdown measures to become one of the few countries to have virtually eliminated COVID-19, but the government is facing criticism for a slow rollout of vaccines.

About 560,000 people in the country of 5 million have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine while about 325,000 have been given a second dose.

"Based on the delivery and supply of vacancies we are working towards taking to the end of the year for vaccinating all those who are eligible," Ardern told a news conference, adding that the drive was going faster than expected.

Announcing details of the plan, she said vaccines would be allocated according to age with people over 60 offered one from July 28 and those over 55 from Aug 11.

Australia 

Australia will recommend only people over 60 receive AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, the country's Minister for Health Greg Hunt said on Thursday, following a spate of blood clots in those who have received the inoculation.

Australia has administered 3.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and it has been linked to 60 cases of blood clots, the government has said. So far, two people have died, which Hunt said has driven the policy shift.

"The government places safety above all else," Hunt told reporters in Canberra.

"This updated advice received today is based on new evidence demonstrating a higher risk for the very rare (thrombocytopenia syndrome) condition in the 50-59 year-old age group."

Australia in April moved to limit the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over 50 years old.

The Philippines

China sustained the COVID-19 vaccines supply to the Philippines with the delivery of an additional batch of Sinovac CoronaVac on Thursday.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque, who received the vaccines at the airport in Manila, said the arrivals of Sinovac vaccines help the Philippines achieve immunity.

China donated the first batch of CoronaVac to the Philippines on Feb 28, allowing the Southeast Asian country to kick off its vaccination drive on March 1.

The DOH has administered nearly 7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, primarily to frontline healthcare workers, the elderly, and those with underlying medical conditions. The country aims to vaccinate up to 70 million people this year, depending on the supply.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Thursday 6,637 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian country, bringing the total tally to 1,339,457.

The death toll rose to 23,276 with 155 more deaths recorded from the coronavirus epidemic, the DOH said.

Japan

Japan said on Thursday it would ease emergency coronavirus curbs in nine prefectures including Tokyo from Monday while keeping some measures, including limiting spectator numbers at big events, amid fears that next month's Olympics could trigger a surge in infections.

The state of emergency is currently set to end for all prefectures except Okinawa on June 20. Okinawa will remain under the current state of emergency until July 11. 

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called on the Japanese public to watch the Olympics on TV to avoid spreading the virus, saying it was crucial to avoid any rebound in COVID-19 cases at the Games, due to start on July 23 after being postponed last year.

"The important thing is to continue with our policies with a sense of urgency to prevent the spread of infections. At the same time we must keep up our vaccination efforts to prevent the collapse of the medical system," he said at a news conference.

Earlier in the day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said the local governments will issue proof of vaccination documents to people who have received COVID-19 inoculations.

The documents will initially be provided to those who need them to travel abroad. Digital versions of the certification will also be considered.

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Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) has selected 24 private healthcare institutions to be licensed providers of the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine under the Special Access Route (SAR), MOH said here Wednesday.

These providers will draw from MOH's existing stock, and can administer the vaccine to Singapore citizens, permanent residents and persons holding long-term passes who wish to take the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine, MOH said in a press release.

MOH said these vaccines are being provided for the providers at no cost, individuals should take note that the providers should not charge them for the vaccine cost. Those interested may contact the providers directly from June 18 for more details on how they may receive the vaccine.

The first batch of Sinovac vaccine purchased by Singapore arrived in February, and MOH said earlier this month that Sinovac can be administered in Singapore under the special access route after it was approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Israel

The Israeli Ministry of Health on Wednesday issued a "severe" travel warning for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the concerns of COVID-19 spread.

The UAE has become one of the most popular destinations for Israeli tourists since a normalization agreement was signed between the two countries in September 2020.

On the other hand, the ministry removed the "severe" travel warning for Peru.

Besides the UAE, there are currently "severe" travel warnings from Israel to over ten countries. The ministry warned that if the situation in those countries does not improve, they could be added to the list of those countries to which Israelis are barred from traveling.

Fiji

Fiji recorded 121 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, including 61 cases linked to existing clusters and two newly identified clusters, according to the Ministry of Health on Thursday.

The ministry's permanent secretary James Fong said the majority of new cases are within known clusters in areas already under a lockdown or are individuals under home quarantine.

New clusters in new locations pose a serious risk of wider transmission to the country, he said, adding that the Ministry of Health is prepared to mitigate the impact of a larger number of daily caseload.

The national seven-day average daily test positivity rate now stands at 2.5 percent, he said.

Bangladesh

The Bangladeshi government has extended the countrywide COVID-19 restrictions on public movement and transport for a month from Thursday.

The ongoing restrictions, which are to expire Wednesday midnight after having been extended several times, will now run through the midnight of July 15.

The country's Cabinet Division in its latest order on Wednesday made the announcement and urged the authorities concerned to take necessary steps so that tourist spots, resorts and communities remain closed during the period.

In the meantime, all government, non-government and financial institutions will remain open while maintaining health rules.

Lebanon

Lebanon's COVID-19 ministerial committee said on Wednesday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will sign memorandums of understanding with different countries aimed at forcing the use of COVID-19 vaccination cards for travelers, the National News Agency reported.

The committee also said that the Lebanese Public Works Ministry will create a center dedicated for conducting PCR tests for travelers arriving in Lebanon through Tripoli's port.

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Turkey

Turkey has lowered the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility age to 35, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday.

"In the past week, we have made our vaccines accessible to people from many professions and age groups," the minister said in a statement after a meeting of Turkey's coronavirus scientific board.

The country widened its vaccination campaign to include those over the age of 45 on June 10.

Turkey on Wednesday reported 6,221 new COVID-19 cases, including 548 symptomatic patients, raising the total number of cases in the country to 5,348,249, according to its health ministry.

Pakistan 

Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed 1,119 new COVID-19 cases, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Thursday.

The NCOC, a department leading Pakistan's campaign against the pandemic, said that the country's number of overall cases had risen to 945,184, which include 887,095 recoveries.

The number of active cases has dropped to 36,215 who are under treatment across the country, including over 2,000 patients who are in critical condition.

According to the NCOC, the pandemic killed 46 people on Wednesday, raising the overall death toll to 21,874.

Pakistan's eastern Punjab province continued to be the worst-hit region with 344,512 infections and 10,586 deaths while the southern Sindh province reported 329,947 infections and 5,292 deaths.