A medical worker fills a syringe with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, at Tokyo Medical Center in Tokyo, Japan February 17, 2021. (BEHROUZ MEHRI / POOL VIA REUTERS)

SINGAPORE / HANOI / MANILA / ISLAMABAD / YANGON / TOKYO / SEOUL / NEW DELHI / ISLAMABAD / KUALA LUMPUR – A Japanese health ministry panel on Wednesday recommended approving Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as six months old.

Japan in January expanded use of the vaccine to those as young as five years old

Japan in January expanded use of the vaccine to those as young as five years old. Last month, health authorities started to dispense Pfizer and Moderna Inc booster shots that target the Omicron variant of the virus.

The panel also recommended approval of a version of the Pfizer vaccine that protects against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron. Moderna said earlier on Wednesday it was seeking Japanese approval of its own subvariant shot. 

ALSO READ: Pfizer COVID jab clears Japan panel for use with children

India

According to the health ministry data released on Thursday morning, 2,529 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,604,463 in the country.

The number marked an increase in comparison to the daily caseload of  2,459 one day earlier.

The country also logged 12 COVID-19-related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 528,745 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 1,722 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Wednesday, bringing the national total to 4,848,314, according to the Health Ministry.

There are eight new imported cases, with 1,714 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.

Two new deaths have been reported, leaving the death toll at 36,387.

The country reported 1,401 vaccine doses administered on Wednesday alone, and 86.1 percent of the population have received at least one dose, 84.2 percent are fully vaccinated and 49.7 percent have received the first booster and 1.6 percent have received the second booster.

Myanmar
Myanmar confirmed 465 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 625,147, according to the ministry of health on Wednesday.

The death toll from COVID-19 in the country remained unchanged at 19,463 on Wednesday as no new deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, the ministry said.

Pakistan

Pakistan reported 48 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

The overall tally of the infected people increased to 1,572,883 after adding the fresh cases, according to data released by the ministry.

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

A woman gets a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test at a coronavirus testing site in Seoul, Republic of Korea, July 15, 2021. (KIM HONG-JI / REUTERS)

Republic of Korea
The Republic of Korea reported 28,648 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 24,911,497, the health authorities said Thursday.
The daily caseload was down from 34,739 in the previous day and lower than 30,861 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

READ MORE: ROK says to spare no effort to help DPRK amid virus outbreak

For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 24,425.
Among the new cases, 82 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 68,148.
Twenty-nine more deaths were confirmed, taking the death toll to 28,573. The total fatality rate was 0.11 percent. 

Singapore

Singapore reported 5,923 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total tally to 1,930,062.

Of the new cases, 562 were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 5,361 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

Among the PCR cases, 536 were local transmissions and 26 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 5,172 local transmissions and 189 imported cases.

Wednesday saw no new deaths from COVID-19. The total death toll by far is 1,624.

The Philippines

The Philippines reported 1,764 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,958,786.

The Department of Health said the number of active cases dropped to 25,733, while 33 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, taking the country's death toll to 63,111.

READ MORE: Myanmar extends COVID-19 restrictions until end of Oct

Vietnam

Vietnam recorded 1,195 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, up by 175 from Tuesday, according to its ministry of health.

Among the new cases, one was imported and the rest were all locally transmitted, said the ministry.

The country reported no new deaths from the pandemic on Wednesday, with the total fatalities staying at 43,151.