Asia - South

Startling new evidence has emerged about the ravages of the pandemic in India. It was already a dire situation – the government reporting more than 415,000 have died.

It was not immediately clear what the production issue is, how much and long shipment will be impacted and whether other countries will be also affected by the problem.

World Hepatitis Day is observed on Jul 28 every year and this year’s theme is “Hepatitis Can’t Wait”. Hepatitis C elimination in Malaysia may be possible after it made diagnosis and treatment more affordable and accessible.

The origin of the virus remains contested among experts.

After reining in the virus for much of the pandemic, Vietnam faces a surge in daily infections.

Thailand's push for 10 million monthly doses comes as it considers imposing vaccine export curbs on Thai-manufactured vaccines to shore up domestic supplies.

Heartbreaking scenes of mourners in protective suits saying farewell to loved ones are taking place every day at Indonesia’s Rorotan Public Cemetery.

Taiwan-based Medigen said last month it was seeking a speedy emergency use authorisation, or EUA, from the government for its vaccine candidate after safely completing Phase II trials.

The federal government aims to inoculate all of the country's estimated 944 million adults by December.

Malaysia will also consider ramping up the supply of vaccines developed by China's Sinovac if there are shortages of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Pfizer on Thursday said it was only in talks with the Thai government, after a Thai hospital group said it was signing a deal for 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

The Southeast Asian country has secured about 45 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, enough to cover 70% of the population, compared to 16 million doses of Sinovac's shot.

Vietnam has recorded 40,850 infections and 207 deaths overall - very low figures compared with many countries. Most of the cases have been reported since May.

Vietnam saw a record 2,934 new cases on Wednesday, most of those in Ho Chi Minh City, the epicentre, which has been under stricter movement curbs since last week.

The move also marks a fresh setback to AstraZeneca, which had initial delays in regional production and delivery and hoped to put it back on track from this month and meet its supply commitments to the region.