Asia-Pacific Coronavirus News: Japan begins vaccinations targeting medical workers, New Zealand to lower COVID-19 alert level in Auckland

Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-17 19:38:31|Editor: huaxia

A trader receives an injection of the COVID-19 vaccine at Tanah Abang market in Jakarta on Feb. 17, 2021. (Photo by Veri Sanovri/Xinhua)

-- Indonesia enters 2nd round of massive vaccination;

-- Japan begins vaccinations, medical workers first to receive jabs;

-- New Zealand to lower COVID-19 alert level in largest city;

-- India's tally rises to 10,937,320.

HONG KONG, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia-Pacific countries on Wednesday:

JAKARTA -- Indonesia began the second phase of its massive COVID-19 vaccination program targeting 38.5 million people include market traders, senior citizens, educators and religious figures.

Elected representatives, government officials, police and military personnel, security guards, journalists as well as workers in hospitals, transportation offices and tourism industries are also included.

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia increased by 9,687 in the past 24 hours to 1,243,646, with the death toll adding by 192 to 33,788, the Health Ministry said.

Passengers get off the first flight into the country in months at the Velana International Airport in Male, the Maldives, July 15, 2020. (Xinhua)

MALE -- The Maldives has inoculated over 50,000 people against COVID-19, local media reported. Data from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) showed that 6,230 people were vaccinated on Monday, raising the country's total number of vaccinated to 50,047.

A girl disinfects her hands as she enters a school in Bangkok, Thailand, Feb. 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)

BANGKOK -- Thailand confirmed 175 new cases of COVID-19 infection, mostly domestic, according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Of Wednesday's new cases, 168 were domestic infections while seven others referred to imported cases, CCSA spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin told a press conference.

A medical worker fills a syringe with a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as the country launches its inoculation campaign at the Tokyo Medical Center in Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 17, 2021. (Behrouz Mehri/Pool via Xinhua)

TOKYO -- Japan began administering its first COVID-19 vaccinations to medical workers, with the first inoculations using the vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and German partner BioNTech taking place at the National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center.

A woman wearing a protective face mask has her temperature checked during a COVID-19 vaccination simulation exercise in Manila, the Philippines, Jan. 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA -- The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported 1,184 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 553,424.

Medical workers work at a temporary COVID-19 testing site in Auckland, New Zealand, Feb. 15, 2021. (Photo by Zhao Gang/Xinhua)

WELLINGTON -- New Zealand will lower the COVID-19 alert level in its largest city Auckland on Wednesday midnight after five community cases have been found over the past four days.

Auckland will move to alert level 2 from level 3, and the rest of New Zealand will go down to level 1 from level 2 at midnight after a three-day lockdown, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a press conference.

New Zealand reported three new cases of COVID-19, including two cases in the community and one case in managed isolation.

A health worker administers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine to a civil defence personnel at a private hospital in New Delhi, India, on Feb. 13, 2021. (Photo by Partha Sarkar/Xinhua)

NEW DELHI -- India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,937,320 on Wednesday as 11,610 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry.

According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 155,913 with 100 new deaths.

A woman wearing a face mask prepares to board her train at Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 10, 2021. (Photo by Lee Sang-ho/Xinhua)

SEOUL -- South Korea reported 621 more cases of COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 84,946. The daily caseload was up from 457 in the previous day, rising above 600 in 38 days since Jan. 10.

A man wearing a face mask is seen in Perth, West Australia, Australia, on Feb. 1, 2021. (Photo by Zhou Dan/Xinhua)

SYDNEY -- The Australian state of Victoria will emerge from a snap five-day lockdown at midnight Wednesday after recording zero new COVID-19 cases.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed most of the restrictions will be eased from 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.

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