Over 500 mn Covid vaccine doses administered in WHO South-East Asia Region

More than half a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the WHO South-East Asia Region, with the maximum, 489 million doses, been given in India, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Countries across the region are making unprecedented efforts to reach more and more people with life-saving COVID-19 vaccines, demonstrating their commitment to contain the pandemic at the earliest, regional director, WHO South-East Asia Region, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, said in a statement.

"We must continue these and also, stringently implement public health and social measures," she said.

"More than half a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in WHO South-East Asia Region, with more vaccine doses becoming available and countries scaling up efforts to rapidly expand coverage amid recurrent surge in cases," Singh said.

COVID-19 vaccines are an important tool in the fight against the pandemic as they are effective, even against the variants of concern, in preventing severe disease, hospitalisation and death, she stated.

As of August 6, the statement said, 618.5 million doses have been administered, and as many as 146 million people have received two vaccine doses and are fully vaccinated.

"The maximum 489 million doses have been administered in India, which reached 8.6 million people on day one of its reinvigorated campaign in June," the statement said.

Indonesia, which was the first in the region to launch COVID-19 vaccination drive, has administered 71 million doses, followed by 18 million doses in Thailand, it said.

Sri Lanka has administered 13 million doses and has been consistently reaching out to 500 000 people per day with COVID-19 vaccination, recently, the statement said.

Bangladesh is scaling up vaccination, and also preparing to vaccinate Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar.

Bhutan has achieved a coverage of 70 per 100 population with first dose and 62 per 100 population with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the highest in the region so far, the statement said.

Maldives has vaccinated half its population with two doses and nearly 60 per 100 coverage with one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Nepal has vaccinated more than 70 per cent of its health and frontline workers and elderly population with at least one dose of the vaccine.

Thailand has vaccinated 84 per cent of their health workforce. Timor-Leste has vaccinated almost a quarter of its population with one dose, the statement said.