VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A healthcare worker records data of senior citizens at a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination program in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta on March 3, 2021. (ANTARA FOTO/Muhammad Adimaja/aww)

The number of Indonesians receiving their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine rose by 127,492 to reach 2,413,615 as of Friday afternoon, according to the Task Force for COVID-19 Handling.

Meanwhile, 14,309 additional people received the second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total count to 1,114,537 since the country rolled out the vaccination campaign on January 13, 2021.

Indonesia reported 6,971 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6,331 recoveries in the 24 hours ending 12 p.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB) on Friday.In total, the number of COVID-19 cases reached 1,368,069, while the number of recoveries were recorded at 1,182,687 as of Friday.

With 129 more deaths, the number of fatalities due to COVID-19 reached 37,026.

In the day ending 12 p.m. WIB on Friday, the number of suspected cases reached 66,546, while 36,107 specimens were examined in laboratories for detecting the virus. The number of active cases, or patients under treatment, increased by 511 to touch 148,356.The government has set a target of inoculating 181,554,465 people, or 70 percent of the total population of Indonesia, to build herd immunity against the coronavirus//ANT

Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations Kyaw Moe Tun holds up the three-finger salute at the end of his speech in New York. (Photo: Reuters)

Myanmar's United Nations envoy in New York vowed to continue fighting on Saturday (Feb 27) after the junta fired him for urging countries to use "any means necessary" to reverse a Feb 1 coup that ousted the nation's elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I decided to fight back as long as I can," Kyaw Moe Tun told Reuters on Saturday.

Myanmar state television announced on Saturday that Kyaw Moe Tun had been fired for "betraying the country".

However, the United Nations does not officially recognise the junta as Myanmar's new government as it has received no official notification of any change, said a UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, and so Kyaw Moe Tun remains Myanmar's UN ambassador, for now.

"We have not received any communication concerning changes to the representation of Myanmar at the United Nations in New York," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, warned the 193-member UN General Assembly on Friday that no country should recognise or legitimise the Myanmar junta.

If the Myanmar junta, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, tries to seek international recognition by installing a new UN envoy it could set off a fight at the world body that could culminate with a vote at the General Assembly.

The UN has previously had to address competing claims for representation at the world body.

Elected lawmakers ousted in the coup have formed a committee and Kyaw Moe Tun said that is the "legitimate and duly elected government of Myanmar and must be recognised by the international community as such."

Guterres has pledged to mobilise international pressure "to make sure that this coup fails". The Security Council has voiced concern over the state of emergency, but stopped short of condemning the coup due to opposition by Russia and China//CNA

Johnson & Johnson's Janssen coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine - iHeart Radio

The United States on Saturday (Feb 27) authorised Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the nation a third shot to battle the outbreak that has killed more than 500,000 Americans.

The single-shot vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19, including against newer variants, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said before approving it.

The FDA announced the emergency use authorisation for adults aged 18 and older following Friday's unanimous endorsement by the agency's panel of outside experts.

In large clinical trials, the vaccine's efficacy against severe disease was 85.9 per cent in the United States, 81.7 per cent in South Africa, and 87.6 per cent in Brazil.

Overall, among 39,321 participants across all regions, the efficacy against severe COVID-19 was 85.4 per cent, but it fell to 66.1 per cent when including moderate forms of the disease.

US President Joe Biden hailed the "exciting" announcement but warned the nation could not let its guard down.

"But we cannot let our guard down now or assume that victory is inevitable."

J&J expects to produce at least a billion doses of its vaccine in 2021 and has signed supply deals for most of that.

The United States agreed to pay more than US$1 billion for 100 million doses and may purchase an additional 200 million doses//CNA

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha during a ceremony to mark the arrival of 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine shipment at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on Feb 24, 2021 - Rappler 

Thailand kicked off its COVID-19 inoculation campaign on Sunday (Feb 28), with ministers, health officials and medical professionals among the first in the queue to receive vaccinations.

The first doses of vaccine, developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, were given to Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who is also the health minister, among others at an infectious diseases institute on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, 66, attended the event, although his age falls outside the range of 18 to 59 suitable to receive Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine, so he did not get it.

Thailand received its first 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine from China and 117,00 imported doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine this week.

CoronaVac has been distributed to 13 high-risk provinces, which will start injecting front-line health professionals and volunteers on Sunday, the health ministry has said.

AstraZeneca's vaccine will be ready for use by the second week of March, after going through quality control tests, the company said in a statement.

Thailand is expected to take delivery of a further 1.8 million doses of CoronaVac in March and April.

With a tally of just over 25,000 infections, Thailand has escaped the kind of fallout suffered by some other countries since the pandemic began last year//CNA