80 per cent of Myanmar's Covid-19 patients still unvaccinated

YANGON, Sept 18 (Xinhua): Eighty percent of people infected with Covid-19 in Myanmar between Jan. 28 and Sept 7 are unvaccinated against the virus, the country's Ministry of Health has announced.

yanmar has confirmed more than 80,000 new cases of Covid-19, and over 130 new deaths from Covid-19 during the country's fourth Covid-19 wave which started at the end of January this year, official data showed.

The total number of infections from Jan. 28 until Sept. 7 included 80 per cent of people who were not vaccinated, 15.9 per cent of people who got the first doses of the vaccine, four per cent of people who were fully vaccinated and 0.1 per cent of people who received booster shots, the health ministry said.

The death toll from Covid-19 during the period consisted of 84.1 per cent of people who were not vaccinated and who got only the first dose, 14.4 percent of people who were fully vaccinated and 1.5 percent of people who received booster shots, the ministry said.

As Covid-19 infection was on the rise again in the country starting from August, its health authorities have urged people to get booster shots and abide by the health guidelines issued by the ministry to curb the resurgence of Covid-19 infections.

In August, the country also reported Covid-19 cases with Omicron BA.2.75, BA.2.76, BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants after detecting the people who returned from abroad.

"The vaccinated people can boost immunity against Covid-19 and reduce death risks," Tun Min, deputy director-general of the health ministry's Yangon Regional Health Department, has told reporters.

Myanmar has already vaccinated more than 36.9 million people, or roughly over 66 percent of its total population, for Covid-19 as of Tuesday, official data showed.

The figures comprised over 30.4 million people aged 18 and above and more than 6.5 million people aged under 18 years old, it said.

Yangon Region saw the highest number of Covid-19 infections, followed by Kayin State and Mandalay Region in the second place and third place respectively, its figures showed.

Countries including China, Russia, India and Thailand have donated Covid-19 vaccines to Myanmar, and China has been the top donor of Covid-19 vaccines to Myanmar throughout the pandemic.

Myanmar has recorded 618,303 Covid-19 infections in total since the beginning of the pandemic in the country in March 2020.

The death toll from Covid-19 in the country remained unchanged at 19,444 on Friday, and a total of 594,984 Covid-19 patients have been recovered and discharged from hospitals in the country as of Friday, official data showed. - Xinhua