BANGKOK, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Thailand logged 312 COVID-19 fatalities, another new highest daily death toll since the outbreak of pandemic last year, raising the total number of fatalities to 8,285, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported on Wednesday.
It also reported 20,515 new cases and 22,682 recoveries. So far, the country has had 968,957 infections, 753,119 of whom have recovered, according to the CCSA.
The data from the Department of Health showed that 8,733 children aged 12-18 years old were diagnosed with the disease in the first two weeks of August, which pointed to the need for more protection for this group.
The Department of Health also advised vaccination for young people aged 12-18 who suffer from chronic illness.
The Thai government has been trying to secure more vaccines and accelerate vaccine rollout to create herd immunity. It aims to vaccinate around 70 percent of the nearly 70 million population by the end of the year.
As of Tuesday, the country has administered more than 24.6 million doses of vaccines, with 7.6 percent of its whole population having been fully vaccinated, according to the CCSA. Enditem
