Iranians wearing protective masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, leave a bus in the capital Tehran, on Dec 30, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

TOKYO / SYDNEY / DUBAI / SEOUL / JERUSALEM / SINGAPORE - Iran’s Supreme Leader said he was banning the purchase of coronavirus vaccines made by US and UK companies, limiting the country’s options as it confronts the worst outbreak in the Middle East.

“The import of American and British vaccines to the country is banned,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech Friday. “If their Pfizer manufacturer can produce a vaccine, then why do they want to give it to us?” he said. “They should use it themselves so they don’t experience so many fatalities. Same with the UK.”

The cleric said western drug companies tested vaccines on other countries “to see if they work or not.”

The Ayatollah only singled out Pfizer Inc by name, but the ban would appear to rule out imports of vaccines made by UK-based AstraZeneca Plc, as well as US firm Moderna Inc.

Iran’s Red Crescent Society later announced the cancellation of an existing deal for 150,000 shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine donated by US philanthropists, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing an interview with spokesman Mohammad-Hassan Qosian-Moqaddam.

He said the Pfizer order had been “provisional,” and that the Red Crescent would receive “one million coronavirus vaccines from one of the eastern countries,” most likely Russia, China or India.

Central bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said in December that Tehran was in talks with China for a million vaccine doses. Officials have also held discussions with Russia about joint production of its Sputnik V jab.

Hemmati had also said Iran hoped to purchase of 16.8 million vaccine doses from the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility, after overcoming some of the obstacles created by US sanctions.

Iran, which has recorded more than 1.2 million cases of COVID-19 and in excess of 55,000 fatalities from the virus, also aims to have a locally developed vaccine available by the summer.

Singapore 

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong received the first shot of a vaccine against COVID-19 on Friday, the 68-year-old said in a Facebook post sharing a video of him being injected in the arm at a local hospital.

Singapore has so far only approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine but has said it has also secured enough doses for its 5.7 million population including from other vaccine-makers like Moderna and Sinovac.

“We got vaccinated early to show Singaporeans we are confident that the vaccine is safe and effective,” Lee said, adding that he had been vaccinated alongside the country’s top health official, Kenneth Mak.

“It will make us safer, and it will make you and your loved ones safer too, so please take it when you can,” Lee, 68, said after receiving the jab at a local hospital.

The city-state gave its first jabs at the end of December, but Lee said broader vaccinations of healthcare workers from public institutions would start on Friday, followed by the elderly next month.

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 33 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 58,813.

Among the new cases, 31 are imported cases and two are community cases.

Australia

Travellers to Australia will have to show a negative COVID-19 test before they can get on their plane, the prime minister said on Friday, as the city of Brisbane went into lockdown after the discovery of a case of a virulent new coronavirus variant.

Brisbane will enter a three-day lockdown beginning late on Friday, as authorities seek to prevent the spread of a more contagious variant of COVID-19 first detected in Britain.

Brisbane’s 2 million residents will be barred from leaving their homes for anything but essential business after a worker at a quarantine hotel in the city tested positive for the new strain of the virus.

“If we do not do this now, it could end up being a 30-day lockdown,” state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said as she announced the lockdown to begin at 6 p.m. local time.

People must wear masks when they leave home for essential business, Palaszczuk said. Funerals and weddings can proceed, but with limits of 20 and 10 people respectively. Entertainment venues will close and restaurants and cafes will be allowed to provide takeaway only.

READ MORE: Japan's new virus cases hit record as state of emergency looms

Bhutan 

Bhutan reported the first COVID-19 death late Thursday, according to the health minister.

The patient, a 34-year-old man with last-stage liver disease and renal failure, was treated at the COVID-19 ward at the National referral hospital campus in Thimphu, according to the minister.

The man was brought to the National referral hospital for the treatment of severe hepatitis during which he was also detected with COVID-19. Laboratory examination showed that his liver function test was grossly deranged, said the minister.

India

Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Friday said COVID-19 vaccines will be provided in the next few days.

"It will be given to our healthcare professionals followed by frontline workers," Vardhan told media in southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Vardhan was speaking after visiting the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai, the capital city of the state, where he had reviewed the arrangements for COVID-19 vaccine dry run of the vaccination.

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,413,417 on Friday as 18,139 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry.

According to the data, the death toll mounted to 150,570 as 234 COVID-19 patients died since Thursday morning.

There are still 225,449 active cases in the country, while 10,016,859 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment.

Meanwhile, the federal government has ramped up COVID-19 testing facilities across the country, with over 170 million tests having been conducted so far.

Indonesia

A COVID-19 vaccine produced by Sinovac Biotech is deemed halal, or permissible under Islam, Indonesia’s Ulema Council said on Friday, days before the country is scheduled to start its inoculation programme using the Chinese vaccine.

Asrorun Niam Sholeh of the council’s fatwa commission told a news conference that the vaccine, named CoronaVac, was “holy and halal”, although authorisation still rests on the Indonesia’s food and drug agency. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, has received 3 million doses of CoronaVac.

The total number of Indonesians overseas testing positive for COVID-19 rose to 2,727, as four more new cases were registered, according to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry on Friday.

Besides, 17 more Indonesian patients abroad won the battle against the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,901 or 69.7 percent of the positive cases.

All the new positive cases and recoveries of Indonesians abroad were in England.

Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Health said on Thursday that the total nationwide COVID-19  infections reached 600,755, after 790 new cases were added.

The ministry also reported four more deaths, the lowest in about seven months, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,869.

It also reported 1,781 more recovered cases, bringing the total recoveries to 551,127 in the country.

A total of 4,774,142 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February, with 33,278 done during the day, according to the statement.

Iraqi Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that Iraq continues with the restrictions recently imposed at airports and border crossings to prevent the new strain of coronavirus characterized by faster transmission.

ALSO READ: Australia says COVID-19 vaccinations to begin February

Israel

Israel tightened a national lockdown on Friday in a bid to curb a sharp rise in new COVID-19 cases, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising that all Israeli adults could be vaccinated by the end of March.

With a population of nine million, Israel is leading the world in a swift rollout of vaccinations, but the number of new infections has climbed to around 8,000 a day, the highest in months.

Israel imposed its third lockdown on Dec. 27. Many Israelis, however, ignored travel and social-distancing restrictions, prompting stricter measures that will include additional police roadblocks and the closure of most schools and more businesses.

The new edicts will be in effect for at least two weeks.

In a speech on Thursday, Netanyahu said vaccine supply agreements with Pfizer Inc meant that all Israelis over the age of 16 would be able to be inoculated by the end of March, or perhaps even earlier.

Israeli officials have said they hoped Israel could emerge from the pandemic as early as February if the vaccination programme, launched on Dec. 19, maintains its speed.

Commuters wearing face mask make their way during a rush hour on Jan 8, 2021 in Tokyo. (PHOTO / AP)

Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday the government would liaise with other prefectures and check whether the state of emergency over the coronavirus for the greater Tokyo region should be extended to those areas.

The governors of Osaka and Aichi are expected to request being added to the emergency declaration as infections surge in their prefectures.

Jordan

Jordan announced 1,215 new coronavirus infections and 13 more deaths, raising its tally of COVID-19 cases to 304,071 and its total death count to 3,968. The total recoveries in the kingdom increased by 1,616 to 284,343.

Kuwait

Kuwait reported 540 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally of infections to 152,978, while its death toll remained at 938. The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced the recovery of 224 more patients, taking the total recoveries to 148,239.

Laos

A total of 2,410 people have been held in quarantine at 31 accommodation centers across Laos, according to a report released by the Lao Ministry of Health on Friday.

In the report, the ministry urged related authorities countrywide to continue closely monitoring people entering the country in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Arrivals in the southeastern Asian country will be subject to a 14-day quarantine at designated centers.

On Thursday, a total of 2,897 people entered Laos through international border checkpoints. Of these, 1,825 people crossed the border with Thailand.

Lebanon

Lebanon reported on Thursday a new record of  4,774 daily COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the country to 204,699.

The death toll went up by 16 to 1,566, the Health Ministry said.

Lebanon started on Thursday the third nationwide lockdown since the outbreak of the virus on Feb. 21, 2020.

Anyone who breaks the lockdown rules will be imprisoned and fined by Lebanese security forces patrolling the streets.

Mongolia 

Mongolia reported 33 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing its national tally to 1,395, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Friday.

The latest confirmed cases were locally transmitted or reported in the capital city Ulan Bator, said Amarjargal Ambaselmaa, head of the surveillance department of the NCCD, at a daily press conference.

"COVID-19 infections of unknown source have been increasing in Ulan Bator," she said, urging citizens to stay home and maintain good personal hygiene habits.

Oman

The Omani health ministry announced 182 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total confirmed cases in the sultanate to 130,070, and one more death, bringing its death toll to 1,505.

It also confirmed 100 new recoveries during the past 24 hours, taking the overall recoveries in Oman to 122,556.

More than 14,900 people have received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Oman since the beginning of the national campaign of inoculation against COVID-19 on December 27, 2020, Omani Health Ministry said on Friday.

Qatar

The Qatari Health Ministry on Friday announced 195 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 145,466, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

Meanwhile, 139 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 142,453, while the fatalities increased by one to 246, according to a ministry statement quoted by QNA.

South Korea

South Korea reported 674 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Friday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 67,358.

The daily caseload stayed below 1,000 for four straight days, but it hovered above 100 for 62 days since Nov. 8 due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

The daily average number of confirmed cases for the past week was 799.

Of the new cases, 186 were Seoul residents and 236 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Forty-one were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 5,647.

Thirty-five more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,081. The total fatality rate stood at 1.60 percent.

Thailand

The Thai authority has set three phases for COVID-19 vaccination, with the first phase involving two million doses from February to April, the Ministry of Public Health said Thursday.

The first two million doses would prioritize vaccination for 80,000 medical personnel and health volunteers, 20,000 disease control workers, people with chronic diseases as well as those aged 60 and over, said Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the disease control department at the ministry.

The first-phase recipients would be in Samut Sakhon, Rayong, Chonburi, Chanthaburi and Trat, which had high levels of infection and had been declared as regions under maximum control with high strict measures, he said.

Thailand on Friday confirmed 205 more cases of coronavirus infection, mostly domestic, according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

The Philippines

The Philippines is seeking 15,000 volunteers in the Manila area for a World Health Organization Solidarity vaccine trial due to take place as early as this month, Rowena Cristina Guevara, science and technology department undersecretary, said on a virtual media briefing Friday.

The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines on Friday reported 1,776 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the country's total tally to 483,852.

The death toll climbed to 9,364 after eight more patients died from the coronavirus epidemic, the DOH said. It added that 285 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 449,330.

The Philippines, which has a population of about 110 million, has so far tested over 6.5 million people.

The Philippines is monitoring the new strains of COVID-19 reported in some countries.

Aside from the coronavirus variant found in Britain, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH is now checking two other variants found in South Africa and Malaysia.

The UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported a new daily record of 2,988 COVID-19 cases and five more deaths, taking its tally of infections to 221,754 and its death toll to 694. Its total recoveries rose by 3,658 to 199,178.

Turkey

Turkey reported on Thursday 12,171 new COVID-19 cases, including 1,370 symptomatic patients, as the total number of positive cases in the country reached 2,296,102, its health ministry announced.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 194 to 22,264, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,172,251 after 8,211 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours.

The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients stands at 4.3 percent and the number of seriously ill patients is 3,201 in the country, said the ministry.

A total of 183,003 tests were conducted over the past day, with the overall number of tests in Turkey reaching 25,681,213.

Vietnam 

Vietnam reported three new cases of COVID-19 infection on Friday, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 1,512 with 35 deaths, according to its Ministry of Health.

The new cases, including an Austrian expert and two Vietnamese citizens, recently entered the country from abroad and were quarantined upon arrival.

The ministry also announced that four more patients have been given the all-clear, raising the total cured cases in the country to 1,357 as of Friday.

The Maldives

The Maldives' death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic rose to 49 on Friday, local media reported.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has announced that a 60-year-old Maldivian national died while receiving treatment for COVID-19 in hospital on Thursday.

Out of 49 deaths from COVID-19 in the Maldives, 41 are Maldivian nationals and eight are foreign expatriates.

HPA data shows that over 13,960 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the island country, with 13,225 recoveries.

Myanmar 

The number of COVID-19 cases rose to 129,483 in Myanmar on Friday, as 711 new infections were reported in the past 24 hours, according to a release from the Health and Sports Ministry.

The death toll increased to 2,812 with 13 more deaths on Friday, while 112,876 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan government has been in discussions with China, Russia and India to purchase COVID-19 vaccines while obtaining vaccines through the WHO's COVAX, local media quoted Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi as saying on Friday.

The minister informed the parliament that the Asian Development Bank had agreed to provide a grant of US$5 million to purchase the vaccines for Sri Lankans, while the government would also take steps to provide the Pfizer vaccine if it is available through the COVAX Facility.