This photo, provided by Office of the Governor of New York, shows Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Boriken Neighborhood Health Center, in New York on Sept 7, 2022. (DON POLLARD / OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK VIA AP)

SINGAPORE / SEOUL / ISLAMABAD / NEW DELHI / KUALA LUMPUR / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - Singapore on Wednesday granted interim authorization for a bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine made by Moderna, the government said in a statement.

The vaccine has been authorized for use as a booster shot in individuals aged 18 years and above who have received the primary series of COVID-19 vaccinations, the city-state's Health Sciences Authority said.

Moderna's bivalent vaccine contains mRNA designed to target two different coronavirus variants - the original variant from 2020 and the Omicron variant that was circulating widely last winter.

Brunei

Brunei saw a slight increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases last week, with a daily average of about 179 cases compared to 169 cases per day in the previous week. However, the infection trend shows transmission remains low, Haji Mohd Isham, the country's health minister said.

According to the local daily Borneo Bulletin on Tuesday, the health minister said at a weekly briefing that 51,405 Antigen Rapid Test (ART) test results were uploaded to the government platform within one week, with 2.4 percent of them being positive.

Currently, no hospitalized case is held in the intensive care unit and two cases still require assisted breathing.

As of Sept 12, 78.2 percent of Brunei's population have received three doses of COVID-19 vaccines, while 10.1 percent have taken the fourth dose.

People wearing masks as a precaution against the coronavirus walk through a market in New Delhi, India, Aug 11, 2022. (ALTAF QADRI / AP)

India

India recorded 5,108 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,510,057, showed the federal health ministry data released on Wednesday.

With the reporting of fresh cases, India's active caseload currently stands at 45,749.

The country also logged 31 more COVID-19 related deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 528,216 since the beginning of the pandemic, the health ministry said.

Malaysia

Malaysia recorded 1,942 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Tuesday, bringing the total tally to 4,808,896, according to the health ministry.

The newly reported infections include nine new imported cases and 1,933 local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.

Another six deaths have been reported from the pandemic, taking the death toll to 36,291.

Pakistan

Pakistan reported 118 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

The overall tally of infected people climbed to 1,571,413 across the country after adding the fresh cases, according to data released by the ministry.

A total of 30,603 people died of COVID-19 in Pakistan, with three more deaths over the last 24 hours, according to the ministry's statistics.

People wearing face masks cross a road in the rain near a subway station in Seoul, South Korea on July 13, 2022. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP)

South Korea

South Korea reported 93,981 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 24,193,038, the health authorities said Wednesday.

The daily caseload was up from 57,309 in the previous day and higher than 85,529 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 57,310. Among the new cases, 314 were imported, lifting the total to 62,604.