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Saturday, April 17, 2021, 18:15
Thailand to roll out vaccines for general public in June
By Agencies
Saturday, April 17, 2021, 18:15 By Agencies

A medical worker wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) gives directions during a mass testing event at a sport complex in Bangkok on April 17, 2021, after the recent outbreak of Covid-19 coronavirus cases in Thailand. (PHOTO / AFP)

MUMBAI  / RABAT / SEOUL - Thailand will begin vaccinating the general public from June with about 6 million doses of AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccines to be locally manufactured by Siam Bioscience Ltd., Bangkok Post reported, citing Chawetsan Namwat, a director at the Health Ministry.

The Southeast Asian nation, battling a fresh wave of infections, has so far administered 586,032 doses to priority sector workers and those older than 60 years, the newspaper reported. The government has ordered a nationwide ban on the sale of alcohol at restaurants and closure of schools and entertainment venues such as bars and pubs at least until the end of April to contain the latest outbreak.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan will use a herbal tonic to treat COVID-19, its health minister said on Friday after his president praised the remedy - despite warnings from a medical expert that it contained a potentially lethal poison.

Minister Alymkadyr Beishenaliyev drank a solution made from the roots of aconitum soongaricum at an online briefing to show that it was safe.

"Those with mild symptoms recover within a day, those with more acute form (of the illness) take it three to four days," he said.

President Sadyr Japarov had personally provided doctors with a recipe passed on to him by his father, and they were already using it, Beishenaliyev said.

But Bermet Baryktabasova, a medicines expert and a former health ministry advisor, described aconitum as "the most poisonous plant in Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan has reported over 90,000 COVID-19 cases with more than 1,500 deaths.

Qatar

Qatar said it’s in talks with coronavirus vaccine makers to ensure all 2022 soccer World Cup visitors are vaccinated.

“Right now there are programs under development to provide vaccination to all the attendees of the World Cup,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Friday during a virtual conference. “We will be able, hopefully, to host a COVID-free event.”

India

India reported a record daily increase of 234,692 COVID-19 infections over the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Saturday.

It was the eighth record daily increase in the last nine days.

Total cases reached nearly 14.5 million, second only to the United States which has reported more than 32 million infections.

India's deaths from COVID-19 rose by 1,341 to reach a total of 175,649, the data showed.

As India’s daily tally of COVID-19 infections surged by a record 200,000-plus cases on two consecutive days, public health experts worry that a new -- possibly more virulent -- coronavirus variant could be racing through the crowded nation of more than 1.3 billion people.

The new variant, which has a so-called double mutation, is thought to be fueling India’s deadlier new wave of infections that has made it the world’s second worst-hit country, surpassing Brazil, and has already begun to overwhelm its hospitals and crematoriums. The Asian nation has reported more than 14 million cases so far and more than 174,300 fatalities.

India's federal environment, forest and climate change minister Prakash Javdekar Friday tested positive for COVID-19.

Australia 

Australia regulators said a link is likely between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the nation’s first death from a blood clot after inoculation, Reuters reported. The nation’s Vaccine Safety Investigation Group said “a causative link to vaccination should be assumed at this time,” according to the Therapeutic Goods Administration. The victim was a 48-year-old woman from New South Wales who was vaccinated with AstraZeneca on April 8.

Australia’s most populous state is planning a major overhaul of its COVID-19 innoculation program, including a possible increase in the volume of Pfizer Inc’s doses and distribution of new alternative vaccines, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The strategy in New South Wales is under review ahead of Monday’s national cabinet meeting, which is also likely to address the future of the rollout of AstraZeneca Plc’s shots for people over 50 years of age, the paper said.

Israel

Seven cases of a new "double mutantation" variant of COVID-19 were detected in Israel, the country's Ministry of Health said on Friday.

This is the B.1.617 variant that was recently identified in India, and now it has been detected for the first time in Israel.

The seven cases were diagnosed by genetic sequencing tests in unvaccinated Israelis that returned from abroad, the ministry noted.

"There is still no clear information regarding the variant and its implications for the vaccinated and the recovered," the ministry added.

Earlier on Friday, an official of the World Health Organization (WHO) said at a press conference in Geneva that the B.1.617 variant could bring about "increased transmissibility."

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 41 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, raising the total number in the country to 836,740.

The death toll from the virus rose by one to 6,315, while the number of patients in serious conditions decreased from 209 to 201, out of 354 hospitalized patients.

This is the lowest number of patients in serious condition in Israel since July 14, 2020 when it stood at 190.

ALSO READ: Australia reports 1st blood clot death 'likely' linked to Astra jab

Lebanon

Moroccan King Mohammed VI on Friday ordered to dispatch food aid to Lebanon, official news agency MAP said.

Military planes will depart from Morocco to Beirut, to deliver this "personal royal donation to the Lebanese military and Lebanese people," the agency added.

This aid "comes in response to a request formulated by the Lebanese side," it said, adding that it will allow to help alleviate the economic challenges and the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morocco has deployed a military field hospital in Lebanese capital Beirut following the deadly blasts that hit Beirut's port in August 2020.

It has also dispatched to Beirut humanitarian aid consisting of 295 tons of foodstuffs, 10 tons of medical equipment, and 11 tons of special equipment for the COVID-19 response. 

Lebanon registered on Friday 2,008 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 506,808, the Health Ministry reported.

South Korea 

South Korea reported 658 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Friday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 113,444.

The daily caseload was down from 673 in the previous day, but it stayed above 600 for four straight days.

The daily number of infections hovered in triple figures since Nov. 8 last year due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

Of the new cases, 213 were Seoul residents and 204 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Twenty-eight cases were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 7,959.

Four more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,794. The total fatality rate stood at 1.58 percent.

Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Friday 7,561 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 964,435.

The new cases included 2,764 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 723 in Diyala, 647 in Basra, 424 in Wasit, and 381 in Sulaimaniyah, while the other cases were detected in other provinces, the ministry said in a statement.

It also reported 30 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 14,915, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 6,515 to 843,851.

A total of 8,732,638 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 42,111 done during the day.

READ MORE: How NZ's virus response helped fuel a housing crisis

Bangladesh 

Bangladesh recorded a total of 101 deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, according to the country's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

It is the first time that more than 100 daily deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in the country, bringing the death toll to 10,182.

DGHS also reported 4,417 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, raising its total tally to 711,779.

Iran

The Iranian Health Ministry reported 25,261 new COVID-19 infections and 328 more deaths on Friday, taking the nationwide caseload to 2,194,133 and death toll to 66,008.

According to the daily report of Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education on its official website, 1,761,497 COVID-19 patients have recovered or been discharged from Iranian hospitals as of Friday, and 4,652 others are currently being treated in intensive care units.

Meanwhile, 14,165,771 laboratory tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in the country so far, according to the report.

A total of 372,362 first doses and 112,108 second doses of vaccines against COVID-19 have been administered in the country so far, the ministry added.


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