A health worker administers a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd, to an Airports of Thailand Pcl employee at a vaccination site set up at a near-empty Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. (PHOTO / AFP)

DHAKA /  NEW DELHI / SINGAPORE – Thailand’s vaccine rollout is trailing its target as a jab shortage and moves to prioritize workers to shield the economy trigger chaos and mass cancellation of appointments.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and dozens of hospitals across the country have postponed some of the scheduled vaccinations for this week, citing limited vaccine supplies. The delay comes after the nation was able to meet only 56% of its inoculation target in the first week of the nationwide rollout.

The Health Ministry attributed the shortage to “an overwhelming demand for vaccines” and said it has allocated the shots based on infection risks while prioritizing senior citizens, individuals with underlying conditions and workers in Bangkok. Officials reaffirmed on Monday that six million shots will be administered in June as planned.

South Korea

South Korea began easing restrictions on large concerts and sports events on Monday after announcing last week it would loosen a series of coronavirus curbs as the country pushes ahead with its vaccination drive.

Up to 4,000 people will be allowed to attend K-Pop concerts and other cultural shows from Monday, up massively from a capacity limit of below 100 people since late last year, according to measures announced by health officials on Friday.

Sports stadiums will be able to operate at a 30 percent to 50 percent capacity, depending on the districts, up from 10 percent previously.

While South Korea has fought small clusters of coronavirus infections in recent months, the daily infection number hit a two-month low on Sunday while the government has pushed through with its vaccination drive.

The government has also said it would loosen some quarantine restrictions for fully vaccinated overseas visitors.

South Korea reported 399 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Sunday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 148,273.

The daily caseload was down from 452 in the prior day, falling below 400 in over two months since March 29. The daily average caseload for the past week was 520.

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City extended social distancing measures for two more weeks from June 15, newspaper Tuoi Tre reported, citing Mayor Nguyen Thanh Phong during a Monday meeting.

Vietnam’s commercial hub is experiencing a number of new clusters even after two weeks of restrictions and more areas in the city may experience lockdowns, Phong said, according to Tuoi Tre. Extended social distancing applies to Go Vap district and a ward in district 12, which have been locked down since May 31 following a cluster tied to a religious group, the report said.

The city, which imposed 15 days of social distancing on May 31, has reported 209 more local Covid cases since June 12, according to the health ministry.

India

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 29,510,410 on Monday, with as many as 70,421 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, said the federal health ministry.

Besides, 3,921 COVID-19 patients died since Sunday morning, taking the death toll to 374,305.

This was the seventh consecutive day when less than 100,000 cases were registered across the country, after peaking to over 400,000 for several days in April-May which was dubbed as the pandemic's second wave.

Still there are 973,158 active cases, after a decrease of 53,001 active cases during the past 24 hours. This is the first time in the past couple of months when the number of active cases has fallen to below 1 million-mark.

The Delhi state government on Sunday announced more COVID-19 lockdown relaxations, opening restaurants with 50 percent seating and all shops.

Till now only 50 percent of shops were allowed to open alternatively every day.

Announcing the relaxations, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal allowed all economic activities, except some that will remain prohibited and some that will continue in a restricted manner.

All schools, colleges, and other educational institutions, will continue to remain closed.

Australia

Australia's Victoria state, which was a coronavirus hotspot until last week, reported two new locally acquired COVID-19 cases on Monday.

The new infections follow low single-digit numbers over the weekend and pose little threat to the community as the people were already in isolation, health authorities said.

"The two new locally acquired cases are primary close contacts of existing cases, with no community exposure during their infectious period," Victoria's Health Department said.

Australia's second most-populous state has recorded 94 cases in its latest wave of COVID-19 infections, which triggered a two-week snap lockdown late last month. Victoria emerged from the lockdown on Friday as new cases declined, but some physical-distancing rules remain.

The state expects to announce further easing of COVID-19 restrictions this week, acting Premier James Merlino said on Sunday, as a strict two-week lockdown was successful in taming the virus.

Bangladesh

The second batch of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government arrived in Bangladesh on Sunday evening, the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) said here.

ISPR, a department under Bangladesh's defense ministry, said in a statement that the two aircraft of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) shipping the vaccines arrived in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka at around 5:30 p.m. local time from Beijing.

Bangladesh's drug regulator in April authorized the emergency use of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in the Asian country after Dhaka suspended the first dosing of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on a supply crunch.

The donation of second consignment was made after Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone conversation with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen on May 21.

Israel

The number of COVID-19 patients in serious condition in Israel decreased to 30 on Sunday, Israel's Ministry of Health said.

This is the lowest number of patients in serious condition in Israel since June 8, 2020 when it also stood at 30. On January 26, the figure stood at a record high of 1,181.

The ministry also reported three new coronavirus cases, bringing the tally of confirmed cases in Israel to 839,664.

The death toll from the virus rose by two to 6,430 in Israel, while the number of hospitalized patients dropped from 61 to 55.

The number of recoveries rose to 833,028, with 17 new ones, while the number of active cases dropped to 206.

Turkey

Turkey on Sunday reported 5,012 new COVID-19 cases, including 454 symptomatic patients, raising the total infections in the country to 5,330,447, according to its health ministry.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 53 to 48,721, while the total recoveries climbed to 5,202,251 after 4,194 more people recovered in the last 24 hours.

The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients stands at 2.7 percent and the number of seriously ill patients is 952 in the country, said the ministry.

A total of 214,957 tests were conducted over the past day, with the overall number of tests in Turkey reaching 57,004,499.

UK

The UK has been removed from Abu Dhabi’s “Green List,” meaning travelers from the country will now need to quarantine on arrival in the Middle Eastern city.

The oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates updated the list Sunday to remove Britain and Tajikistan and add Malta, The National newspaper reported. Passengers traveling to the UK from the UAE have been required to self-isolate since the start of the year. The move comes as coronavirus cases rise in the UK.

Malaysia

Malaysia is studying the possibility of easing the standard operating procedures of its current nationwide lockdown if daily Covid-19 infections drop below 4,000, Star reported, citing Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The government will hold a meeting to discuss the matter, he said. However, any relaxation of movement restrictions will be subject to advice from the health ministry.

Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga gained the support of US President Joe Biden and other Group of Seven leaders for Tokyo’s hosting of the Olympics next month, in a boost for the premier’s plans to push ahead with the event despite virus concerns.

“President Biden affirmed his support for the Tokyo Olympic Games moving forward with all public health measures necessary to protect athletes, staff and spectators,” the White House said in a statement following a conversation between the two leaders on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in the coastal Cornwall region of the UK.

The final communique from the G-7 leaders also mentioned their support for the holding of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo in a safe and secure manner “as a symbol of global unity in overcoming COVID-19.”

Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 13 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country on Sunday, including 10 locally transmitted and three imported, bringing the total tally to 62,276.

All of the local cases were community cases. Among them, eight were linked to previous cases.

On Sunday, 31 more recovered patients were discharged from hospitals and community isolation facilities, bringing the total number of recoveries from the coronavirus epidemic to 61,869 in the Southeast Asian country.

Kyrgyzstan 

Kyrgyzstan on Monday confirmed 459 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the country to 110,829.

According to the Republican Headquarters for Combating COVID-19, total recoveries reached 102,890 after 257 more patients recovered in the last 24 hours, while the death toll from the virus rose to 1,899 with nine new deaths.

Currently, 2,041 people are still in hospital across the country and 2,949 are receiving treatment at home.

Afghanistan 

Afghanistan on Monday recorded 1,804 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases after health authorities conducted 5,070 tests within a day, bringing the number of total cases to 93,272, the country's Ministry of Public Health said.

Meanwhile, 296 people recovered during the past 24 hours. A total of 71 deaths were also reported, totaling the number of COVID-19 related deaths to 3,683, the ministry said.

Sri Lanka

The total number of COVID-19 patients in Sri Lanka reached 223,638 on Monday after over 2,300 new patients were detected a day earlier, official figures from the Health Ministry showed here.

Out of the total figures, the active patient count to date was 32,955 while a total of 2,136 deaths have been reported from the virus.

The Health Ministry said that an average of 2,200 patients were being detected on a daily basis since the month of April and the country was in the midst of a third wave of the pandemic.

Sri Lanka is under a strict nationwide travel restriction which will be lifted on June 21 at 4:00 a.m. local time.