A member of the community-based COVID-19 prevention and control team attaches a notice at a coronavirus patient's house in Khai Quang Ward, Vĩnh Yên City, in northern Vĩnh Phúc Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hùng

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam reported a record high of 98,762 COVID-19 infections on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s tally marked the eighth consecutive day that numbers have reached record highs, bringing the country’s caseload to 3,557,629.

Of the new cases, 19 were imported and quarantined upon arrival.

Hà Nội remains at the top of the list of new transmissions with a record of 13,323 cases and 20 deaths reported.

The remaining infections were found in Quảng Ninh (4,011), Sơn La (3,087), Nam Định (3,072), Phú Thọ (2,966), Vĩnh Phúc (2,913), Thái Nguyên (2,788), Hòa Bình (2,574), Lạng Sơn (2,534), Hà Giang (2,444), Hải Dương (2,355), Hải Phòng (2,309), Bắc Giang (2,209), Ninh Bình (2,174), Yên Bái (2,118), Đắk Lắk (2,116), Tuyên Quang (2,063), HCM City (2,022), Thái Bình (1,960), Khánh Hòa (1,880), Cao Bằng (1,718), Quảng Bình (1,659), Gia Lai (1,392), Đà Nẵng (1,387), Cà Mau (1,303), Bình Phước (1,291), Điện Biên (1,228), Hà Nam (1,095), Lâm Đồng (1,092), Lai Châu (1,045), Bình Định (995), Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu (856), Đắk Nông (855), Bình Dương (846), Hà Tĩnh (786), Phú Yên (675), Quảng Trị (524), Tây Ninh (507), Thanh Hóa (493), Bắc Kạn (474), Quảng Nam (392), Quảng Ngãi (381), Bình Thuận (375), Thừa Thiên Huế (319), Bạc Liêu (218), Trà Vinh (198), Kon Tum (196), Bến Tre (193), Đồng Nai (163), Vĩnh Long (162), Cần Thơ (154), Long An (88), Kiên Giang (47), Đồng Tháp (32), Sóc Trăng (32), Ninh Thuận (32), An Giang (21), Tiền Giang (8 ) and Hậu Giang (5).

Health authorities also announced a further 86 COVID deaths, raising the nation's death toll since the pandemic started to 40,338.

A total of 3,851 COVID-19 patients are in serious or critical condition, with the majority requiring oxygen masks, 281 requiring invasive ventilation and nine on life support.

A total of 40,932 recoveries were registered, bringing the total given the all-clear to 2,479,883.

On Tuesday, the health ministry issued a decision to approve Comirnaty, or the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, for domestic emergency use.

Under the decision, children more than 12 years old will be given a 0.3 ml dose containing 30 mcg of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles).

A 0.2ml dose containing 10 mcg will be given to children between 5 and 11 years old.

The ministry said the procedure to buy COVID-19 vaccines for children between 5 and 11 years old has been completed.

Nearly 195 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Việt Nam, including 176.6 million doses in adults, 70.76 million first doses, 68.56 million second doses and 23.62 million booster doses.

Sixty-one out of 63 localities in the country have achieved vaccination coverage above 90 per cent in the adult population. Cao Bằng and Bình Dương are the two provinces with coverage below 90 per cent.

A total of 16.95 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given to children aged 12-17 years. Fifty-three out of 63 localities reported coverage higher than 90 per cent in this age group. — VNS