People registered to get inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine at Moti Lal Nehru Medical College in Allahabad on April 1, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)

BEIRUT / AMMAN / DOHA  / SEOUL –  South Korean authorities are facing a backlash for relying on global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX for a bulk of its COVID-19 shots as shipment delays threaten to slow the country’s inoculation programme.

Once praised by the World Health Organization for its decision to procure vaccines through the global scheme, South Korea is now facing criticism at home as the government scrambles to meet the supply shortfall.

South Korea said on Thursday it will issue so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports to immunized citizens, joining other nations introducing such certificates to revive cross-border travel while keeping infection risks under control.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said a mobile app, which will allow international travellers to show digital proof of vaccination, will be officially launched this month.

“The introduction of a vaccine passport or ‘Green Pass’ will only allow those who have been vaccinated to experience the recovery to their daily lives,” Chung told a government meeting, adding the app uses blockchain technology to prevent counterfeit.

South Korea on Thursday expanded its vaccine rollout, starting vaccinations of the general public aged 75 and older with the vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. More than 86 percent of the 3.5 million people in that age group have said they plan to get the shot.

Around 877,000 first doses of the vaccine had been administered as of Wednesday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The KDCA reported 551 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the country’s total infections to 103,639, with 1,735 deaths.

India

India opened up its coronavirus inoculation program to people above 45 on Thursday as infections surge, which will delay vaccine exports from the world’s biggest maker of the drug.

The country, with the most number of reported COVID-19 cases after the United States and Brazil, has so far injected 64 million doses and exported nearly as many. This has raised criticism at home as India’s per-capita vaccination figure is much lower than many countries.

The government has previously said that people over 45 can register for inoculation from April 1.

India initially focused on front-like workers, the elderly and those suffering from other health conditions, unlike some richer countries that have made all their adults eligible to get inoculated.

New Delhi says it is working towards that goal, and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan tweeted that there would be no vaccine shortage in the country as it opens up the vaccination programme.

India reported the highest daily increase in coronavirus cases in five months on Monday, with the second wave of the disease driven by surging infections in the country’s richest state Maharastra.

A total of 68,020 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said. It was the highest daily rise since Oct. 11, according to a Reuters tally.

India has been reporting a spike in cases - above the 60,000 mark - for three consecutive days, though Monday’s rise was still below September’s peak of more than 90,000 cases a day.

Laos

The second batch of China-donated COVID-19 vaccines has arrived here.

Lao Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh and Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong were among those present at the hand-over ceremony held at the airport late on Wednesday, on the vaccines' arrival.

Ambassador Jiang recalled Feb. 8, when the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines donated by China arrived in Vientiane, saying over one month later, the second batch of donated vaccine well demonstrates China's continuous contribution to the vaccine accessibility in developing countries, and displays the spirits of the China-Laos community with a shared future.

Indonesia 

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 6,142 within one day to 1,517,854, with the death toll adding by 196 to 41,054, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

According to the ministry, 7,248 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 1,355,578.

Brunei 

Brunei reported one new confirmed case of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the national tally to 213.

According to Brunei's Ministry of Health, the contact tracing has found no close contacts for this new case as he was quarantined upon arrival in the country.

This new case is being treated and monitored at the National Isolation Center with the other 14 active cases, who are all in a stable condition.

Vietnam

Vietnam recorded 14 new cases of COVID-19 infection on Thursday, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 2,617, according to the country's Ministry of Health.

 The new cases are all Vietnamese citizens who recently entered the country from abroad and were quarantined upon arrival, said the ministry.

 As many as 2,359 patients have been given the all-clear, the ministry said, adding that more than 37,000 people are being quarantined and monitored.

Bangladesh 

Bangladesh has imposed a ban on passengers from European nations, except Britain, and 12 other countries, as the daily COVID-19 infections reached a new high on Thursday with an increasing number of deaths.

The move is aimed at limiting the spread of the new wave of COVID-19 and contain new variants of the disease that have cropped up in several countries around the globe.

The ban, which starts from Saturday, would prohibit travelers from 12 non-European countries including Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Peru, Qatar, South Africa, Turkey and Uruguay.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) made the announcement in a circular on Thursday, saying the ban will continue till April 18.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 1,178 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Thursday, bringing the national total to 346,678.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that 20 of the new cases were imported and 1,158 were local transmissions.

The official added that the COVID-19 variant first found in South Africa has been detected in the country, with several cases identified.

Japan

Japan’s first doses of AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine are coming from plants in the United States, the company said in an interview with the Asahi Newspaper.

The company had intended to import the undiluted vaccine from Europe until the imposition of export controls there, AstraZeneca’s head of vaccines in Japan Tomoo Tanaka said in an interview published on Thursday.

Supplies of the vaccine will gradually shift to those made domestically by Japanese companies once regulatory approval is granted, expected in May, Tanaka said. He declined to say how much inventory of doses there are currently.

Daiichi Sankyo Co said last month it had begun production of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in Japan.

The Japanese government has arranged to buy 120 million doses of the vaccine, enough for 60 million people. Most of the doses will be made by Daiichi Sankyo, JCR Pharma and other local partners.

Palestine

The Palestinian government on Wednesday received 25,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, according to a cabinet minister.

The batch of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is the first batch of 2 million vaccines purchased by the government from vaccine manufacturers, Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said.

The vaccination campaign against coronavirus is proceeding at a positive pace, especially after Palestine received a batch of the Sinopharm vaccine donated by China, al-Kaila said.

So far, 78,379 people have received COVID-19 vaccines, including 8,687 people who received the second dose of the vaccines, according to al-Kaila.

Australia

Australian authorities will end a lockdown of the country’s third biggest city on Thursday after reporting just one new coronavirus case in Queensland state, easing fears of a widespread outbreak.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the three-day lockdown in Brisbane would end at noon local time (0200 GMT), but residents would still be required to wear masks in public and some social distancing restrictions would remain in place.

“The lockdown has been lifted ... but we’re not out of the woods yet so I’m asking Queenslanders for the next two weeks if we all do the right thing, we can get through this together,” Palaszczuk said at a televised briefing.

New Zealand

New Zealand reported five new COVID-19 border related cases in managed isolation and no new community cases on Thursday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.

All of the new cases came to New Zealand on the flights from India via United Arab Emirates.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases detected at the border is  three, according to the ministry.

One previously reported positive COVID-19 case has been reclassified as not a case following further testing and investigation.

The total number of active cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand on Thursday was 67, and the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country reached 2,145, it said.

The total number of tests processed by New Zealand laboratories to date is 1,902,915, according to the ministry.

New Zealand is currently at COVID-19 Alert Level One with no restriction on gatherings.

Nepal

The Nepali government has decided to inoculate the COVID-19 vaccine donated by China among people aged 40-59 years, a senior official of Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population said.

A batch of Chinese vaccines arrived in Nepal on March 29 in a major boost to the Himalayan country's vaccination drive against the pandemic.

"The government has decided to inoculate the Chinese vaccine among people aged 40-59 years from the hospitals and health institutions with appropriate infrastructure," Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson at the health ministry said at a press conference on Wednesday. "A different vaccination identity card will be distributed to the people who are inoculated with the Chinese vaccine."

He said that additional preparation for vaccination with the Chinese vaccine would be based on the recommendation of the National Immunization Advisory Committee, a government body, responsible for making necessary recommendations regarding the use of vaccines.

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Turkey

Turkey has recorded 39,302 new coronavirus cases in the space of 24 hours, the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic, health ministry data showed on Wednesday.

The government eased measures to curb the pandemic in Turkey earlier this month, prompting a surge in new cases. On Monday, President Tayyip Erdogan announced a tightening of measures, including the return of full nationwide weekend lockdowns for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which will start in two weeks.

The latest daily death toll was 152, bringing the cumulative toll to 31,537, according to the health ministry.

Kuwait

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry reported on Wednesday 1,282 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections in the country to 232,103.

The ministry also announced five more fatalities, taking the death toll to 1,313, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,330 to 216,580. A total of 14,210 coronavirus patients are receiving treatment, including 241 in the intensive care units.

The Kuwaiti government has shortened the curfew by one hour from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time, and allowed walk inside residential areas from 6 pm to 8 pm. 

Israel

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 466 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, raising the total confirmed tally in the country to 833,040.

The death toll from the virus rose to 6,203, with 14 new fatalities, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 405 to 394, out of 578 hospitalized patients.

This is the lowest number of patients in serious condition in Israel since Dec. 15, 2020, when it stood at 388.

The total recoveries in Israel rose to 819,564, with 1,058 newly recovered cases, while the number of active cases decreased to 7,273, the lowest since June 29, 2020.

Sri Lanka

A batch of Sinopharm vaccines arrived in Sri Lanka from China on Wednesday as part of a donation by the Chinese government to the island nation.

The vaccines arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport on Wednesday where it was officially handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by China's Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong.

Several Ministers including Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga were present at the occasion.

An official certificate signing ceremony took place between the Chinese Ambassador and Sri Lanka's State Minister of Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation Channa Jayasumana, after which the vaccines were handed over to President Rajapaksa.

Speaking at the ceremony, Jayasumana thanked the Chinese government and its people for the donation and said this was a very important milestone in the friendship between Sri Lanka and China.

Ambassador Qi, at the ceremony, said the arrival of the vaccines once again demonstrated the brotherhood between Sri Lanka and China and once again implemented the commitment of China in making the Chinese COVID-19 vaccines a global public good.

Lebanon

Lebanon registered on Wednesday 3,393 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 468,400, the Health Ministry reported.

Meanwhile, death toll from the virus went up 50 to 6,234.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)'s Italian battalion donated on Wednesday Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medicines to Bent Jbeil Governmental Hospital to help the fight against the epidemic.

Lebanon continues to vaccinate its population against the pandemic.

Singapore

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 34 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing its total tally to 60,381.

Of the new infections, 33 were imported cases, and one was a community case.

On Wednesday, 11 more COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, bringing the total number of recoveries from the coronavirus epidemic to 60,149 in the country, according to the ministry.

READ MORE: Asian nations seek supplies after India export curbs hit COVAX

Jordan

Jordan on Wednesday unveiled a stimulus package worth 448 million dinars (US$632 million ) to support citizens and businesses in light of increased difficulties amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh told a press briefing on Wednesday that the package includes expanding social protection programs, protecting existing jobs, and supporting the private sector.

The stimulus package includes delaying the collection of public funds from individuals and businesses, and deferring installments owed to public credit funds until the end of the year.

Under the package, the government will inject 240 million dinars into the market, including paying arrears to some entities, returning taxes, and compensating expropriated property.

It is expected that the coming summer will witness the reopening of some sectors and a gradual return to normal life, the prime minister said, noting that the government has signed contracts worth 70 million dinars (US$99 million) to procure COVID-19 vaccines.

Qatar

The Qatari Health Ministry on Wednesday announced 780 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 179,964, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

Meanwhile, 437 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 164,121, while the fatalities increased by two to 291, according to a ministry statement quoted by QNA.

A total of 1,734,601 persons in Qatar have taken lab tests for COVID-19 so far, while the total number of vaccine doses administered is 816,484. 

Myanmar

Myanmar will continue extending the period of entry restrictions for all travellers until April 30, according to an announcement issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Wednesday.

The extension will also be applied to temporary suspension of all types of visas including social visit visas and visa exemption services, the announcement said.

The operation of international air services will also be suspended until the end of April, to continue effective control of the importation of COVID-19 to the country through air travel, a directive from the Civil Aviation Department under the Ministry of Transport and Communication said.

Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday 6,664 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily increase since the outbreak of the pandemic, raising the total nationwide infections to 850,924.

The new cases included 2,508 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 989 in Basra, 449 in Duhok, 314 in Sulaimaniyah, and 280 in Wasit, while the other cases were detected in other provinces, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement also said that 37 new deaths were recorded during the day, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 14,323, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 4,210 to 759,560.

Iran

Iran reported 11,750 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, marking the highest number of daily infections since Dec. 5 and a week of rising figures in the aftermath of the Persian new year’s holiday. The health ministry reported 94 deaths overnight, bringing the country’s total figures to nearly 1.9 million cases and 62,759 fatalities.

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea’s health minister said misinformation shared on Facebook was the biggest threat to its COVID-19 vaccine plans, saying the social media giant must take steps to “stop it”.

Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and the efficacy of vaccines are so entrenched that even frontline health workers are hesitant to take the shot, Jelta Wong said at a talk with an Australian think tank that was streamed online on Thursday.

“Facebook is our biggest conspiracy theorist platform,” Wong said at the Lowy Institute talk, adding people should not rely on information on Facebook to guide their approach to vaccines.

“Facebook has a lot of influence here. They’re supposed to have programmes where they stop these types of things. Facebook must take responsibility of this and stop it.”

Vietnam 

Vietnam received 811,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday, its first batch of vaccines under the global COVAX scheme, following a week-long delay caused by limited supply.

The Southeast Asian country, which began its coronavirus vaccination programme last month, is aiming to secure 30 million doses in total via the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility.

Thursday’s delivery took Vietnam’s number of AstraZeneca doses to nearly 930,000 so far, but the country is looking to diversify its procurement from more sources, including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, China’s Sinovac and Russia’s vaccine, Sputnik V.

Mongolia 

Mongolia reported 394 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking its nationwide tally to 8,841, the country's health ministry said Thursday.

Meanwhile, 150 more patients have recovered from the disease, raising the total to 5,070, it said.

The disease has claimed 12 lives in Mongolia since the country confirmed its first case in March last year.

Thailand 

Thailand on Thursday confirmed 26 cases of coronavirus infection, mostly domestic, a report of the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) showed.

Of the new cases, 21 were domestic infections while five others referred to imported cases, the CCSA report said.

The domestic cases include 11 in Samut Sakhon, seven in Bangkok and three in Samut Prakan, according to the report.

Maldives

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Maldives crossed 24,000 and the total death count from the pandemic has reached 67, local media reported on Thursday, citing the country's Health Protection Agency (HPA).

The HPA confirmed 241 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, raising the total number of cases to 24,079. The country currently has 2,849 active cases of COVID-19 including 99 patients who have been hospitalized for treatment.