A nurse administers a Pfizer booster vaccine for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Jakarta on March 29, 2022. (ADEK BERRY / AFP)

SYDNEY/ HANOI / JAKARTA / JAKARTA - Nineteen million doses of vaccines in Indonesia's national COVID-19 stockpile have expired this year and 1.5 million more are set to expire next month, as donated shots arrive with a short shelf life, a health official said on Wednesday.

Indonesia and many other developing nations are ramping up their vaccination campaign, aided by donations from wealthy countries, but they have been calling for donations with a longer shelf life

Indonesia and many other developing nations are ramping up their vaccination campaign, aided by donations from wealthy countries, but they have been calling for donations with a longer shelf life.

Lucia Rizka Andalusia, a senior health ministry official, told a parliamentary hearing that of the 19.3 million doses that expired between January and March, 97 percent were donated.

Most of the expired were AstraZeneca's  shot, and they also included Moderna's, she said. Indonesia receives donations from the COVAX global vaccine sharing scheme and countries such as Australia and the United States.

I Gede Ngurah Swajaya, a foreign ministry official, told the same hearing the country will stop receiving donations until April and tell donating countries that the vaccines donated must carry at least two thirds of the shelf life.

Indonesia's food and drug agency said earlier this month that it extended the expiry dates of several vaccines, including AstraZeneca's and Sinovac's, after reviewing new available data about their efficacy. read more

Indonesia would prioritize the distribution of vaccines nearing expiry, health ministry official Rizka said.

Poorer nations rejected more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by COVAX in December, mainly because of a rapidly approaching expiry date, a UNICEF official said. 

Staff check a client at a drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on Jan 8, 2022. (MARK BAKER / AP)

Australia

Daily COVID-19 cases in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales surged on Wednesday as the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 sub-variant continues to spread.

The Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales reported 25,235 new cases on Wednesday, its second highest daily increase in the month of March, the first highest being a result of a backlog of cases earlier in the month

NSW reported 25,235 new cases on Wednesday, its second highest daily increase in the month of March, the first highest being a result of a backlog of cases earlier in the month.

As the weather gets colder and the BA.2 variant, which is estimated to be 30 percent to 40 percent more transmissible than the original omicron strain, hospitalizations in the state have also grown steadily over the month.

ALSO READ: Indonesia's COVID-19 cases surpass 6 million

On Wednesday 1,301 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.

Victoria also saw its highest single day increase with 11,749 new cases and seven deaths. There are currently 280 people hospitalized with the virus in the state.

Professor Nancy Baxter, head of the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne, told Xinhua that Australia is likely to see cases continue as the nation heads into the winter months and looks to live with COVID-19.

"There's a number of things converging to result in us probably having another significant wave (in the winter months)."

In preparation for the winter, Australia will roll out a fourth vaccine shot to the population's most vulnerable next month.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said they would be offered to people over 65 years of age, Indigenous Australians and people with a disability or who are severely immunocompromised from April 4.  

New Zealand

New Zealand sports will welcome full-capacity crowds when COVID-19 rules ease this weekend after a bruising period for revenues.

New Zealand capped crowds at 100 people for outdoor events while battling an outbreak of the Omicron variant, but will lift the curbs from Saturday, along with the need for fans to wear masks, the government said on Wednesday.

Philippines

COVID-19 was the third leading cause of deaths in the Philippines in 2021, preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed on Wednesday.

Of the total deaths, the PSA said the top causes were ischemic heart diseases and cerebrovascular diseases.

The PSA said COVID-19 "virus identified" accounted for 9.7 percent, jumping to number three leading cause of fatalities from ranking 14 in 2020. Metro Manila and its adjacent regions recorded the most number of COVID-19-related deaths.

Aside from the top three causes, the PSA said cancer and diabetes ranked fourth and fifth leading causes of deaths in 2021 amid the pandemic.

A man passes walks past a billboard on the coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec 4, 2021. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

Vietnam

Vietnam reported 88,378 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, up 5,002 cases from Monday, according to its Ministry of Health.

The new infections, logged in 62 localities nationwide, included 88,376 domestically transmitted and two imported.

The Vietnamese capital Hanoi remained the pandemic hotspot with 8,993 new cases on Tuesday, followed by the northern Phu Tho province with 4,302 and the northern Bac Giang province with 4,047.

On the same day, health authorities also documented 23,262 COVID-19 cases detected earlier in the northern Quang Ninh province and the central Binh Dinh province.

The infections brought the country's total tally to 9,386,489. Nationwide, 7,153,846 COVID-19 patients, or 76 percent of the infections, have so far recovered.