Packages of Bio Farma's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine are seen at Command Center and Vaccine Distribution Management System of Bio Farma in Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia, Jan\ 7, 2021. (ANTARA FOTO / M AGUNG RAJASA VIA REUTERS)

KUALA LUMPUR / HANOI / MANILA / SINGAPORE / NEW DELHI / JAKARTA / ISLAMABAD – Indonesia is in talks with several African countries, including Nigeria, to export and donate its homemade COVID-19 vaccine, its developer said on Friday, after becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to approve a domestically developed COVID shot.

The maker of Indonesia’s domestically invented COVID vaccine, Bio Farma, said it had also submitted documents to the World Health Organization for an emergency use listing approval for IndoVac

Indonesian approval for the shot, the detailed trial data of which has yet to be announced and is primarily based on coroanvirus variants preceding Omicron, underscores progress in vaccine research and in reducing reliance on foreign technology.

The manufacturer of Indonesia’s domestically invented COVID vaccine, Bio Farma, said it had also submitted documents to the World Health Organization for an emergency use listing approval for IndoVac, which would allow it to be donated through organizations such as the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX.

In the meantime, Indonesia can export the vaccine.

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African countries struggled early in the pandemic to secure COVID vaccines as rich countries hoarded doses. But many are now well-supplied with shots and are instead having trouble administering them, either because of hesitancy or logistics.

Bio Farma plans to produce 20 million doses of IndoVac this year but the final supply depends on the government's vaccination plans.

Honesti said Bio Farma had stopped producing Sinovac's vaccine last year and was not in the process of getting more supplies from the Chinese company, as it shifts its focus to IndoVac.

India

India's daily COVID-19 caseload on Saturday increased to 2,797, officials said.

According to federal health ministry data released on Saturday morning, 2,797 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,609,257 in the country.

The cases reported on Saturday mark an increase in comparison to the 1,997 cases on Friday.

The country also logged 24 related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 528,778 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 1,788 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Friday, bringing the national total to 4,851,896, according to the health ministry.

There are six new imported cases, with 1,782 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.

Three new deaths have been reported, leaving the death toll at 36,394.

The ministry reported 1,509 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 4,791,625.

Pakistan

Pakistan recorded 51 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the country's ministry of health said on Saturday.

A total of 30,620 people have died of COVID-19 in Pakistan, with no new deaths reported in the country during the last 24 hours, according to the ministry.

Singapore

Singapore reported 5,934 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total tally to 1,942,204.

Of the new cases, 515 were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 5,419 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

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Among the PCR cases, 491 were local transmissions and 24 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 5,219 local transmissions and 200 imported cases.

The country reported three new deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, lifting the total death toll to 1,628.

The Philippines

The Philippines reported 2,409 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,963,666.

The Department of Health said the number of active cases rose to 27,129, while 42 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country's death toll to 63,191.

Vietnam

Vietnam recorded 702 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, down 428 from Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health.

All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the ministry.

The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 11,485,361. The country reported one new death from the pandemic in the northern Quang Ninh province on Friday, bringing the total fatalities to 43,152.