Medical workers at a COVID-19 testing site in Vientiane, Laos. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) The Lao government has viewed inoculation as the uniqueway to drive back the pandemic, and aimed to vaccinate half of the country’spopulation this year, instead of 22 percent as set earlier.
By May 16, a total of 623,577 people or about 9percent of the population had received COVID-19 vaccine shots, of whom 90,405had got their second jabs.
The Lao health ministry on May 18 reported 49 new COVID-19cases in the country, including 15 imported cases that had been quarantined upontheir arrival in Champasak province.
Of the latest cases, eight were found in Vientianecapital city and 26 in Bokeo province.
The national tally now stands at 1,687, with 686recoveries and two deaths.
The Vietnamese Association in Laos said as of May 17afternoon, 18 out of 68 COVID-19 Vietnamese patients in Laos had been given theall-clear, and there was one fatality.
Meanwhile, Indonesia is stepping up its vaccinationprogramme, with the start of company-funded inoculations for employees on May18.
Workers in labour-intensive industries such as foodand petrochemicals will be the first to receive their vaccinations under therollout, as the country casts its eye on maintaining its economic output.
President Joko Widodo said Indonesia expects to beable to vaccinate 70 million citizens by this August or no later than September.
Since the country launched the national vaccinationprogramme in mid-January, about 14 million citizens have received the vaccine shots,of whom 9 million have completed taking the two doses.
It aims to administer the vaccines to 187 millionpeople within 15 months since the start of the inoculation drive.
As of May 18, the country had recorded 1.7 million COVID-19cases, including 48,305 fatalities.
Malaysia on May 18 also reported a daily record of 4,865new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country's cumulative total to 479,421.
In a Twitter post, Health director-general Tan Sri DrNoor Hisham Abdullah said Selangor had 1,743 new cases, remaining as the statewith the highest figure.
Given the surge in new cases, Noor Hisham has expressed his support for another lockdown to prevent the pandemic spread.
The whole of Malaysia has been under the MovementControl Order (MCO) from May 12 to June 7./.
VNA
