These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
Get up to speed with what’s happening in the fastest growing region in the world.
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Novavax Covid-19 vaccine approved for those aged 18 and above in Singapore
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by Novavax has been approved for individuals here aged 18 and above, said the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) on Monday (Feb 14).
HSA had granted interim authorisation for Novavax's vaccine - manufactured under the name Nuvaxovid - on Feb 3 under the Pandemic Special Access Route (PSAR).
The vaccination regimen comprises two 5mcg doses of Nuvaxovid to be administered three weeks apart.
The first batch of Nuvaxovid is expected to arrive in Singapore in the next few months.
HSA said it has reviewed that the vaccine meets quality, safety and efficacy standards, and that its benefits outweigh the risks for the Singapore population.
Two groups of experts from HSA's Medicines Advisory Committee and Panel of Infectious Diseases Experts were also consulted, and they agreed with HSA's recommendation for PSAR authorisation.
HSA said its review was based on two phase 3 clinical studies conducted in the United States, Mexico and Britain, comprising more than 40,000 trial participants aged between 18 and 95. – Straits Times
Police detain father of two boys who died after eating food from rubbish bin
Police have detained the father of two Myanmar national boys who died after eating food they scrounged from a rubbish bin in Langkawi yesterday.
Langkawi district police chief Assistant Commissioner Shariman Ashari said the 36-year-old man was being investigated for several felonies, including drug abuse.
"He is being investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 and Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
"He is also being investigated under Section 15(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 after he was tested positive for drugs," Shariman said in a statement today. According to Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, any person who has in his or her care a child that is being neglected, abandoned or exposes the child in a manner likely to cause him/her physical or emotional injury can be fined not exceeding RM20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or both.
It is learnt that the man is also being investigated under the Immigration Act for entering the country illegally.
Meanwhile, Shariman added that the boys' remains were being transported from the Sultanah Maliha Hospital in Langkawi to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar today for post-mortem.
It was reported yesterday that the brothers, Nizambudin Jamaludin, four, and Ngei, two, died after eating food they scrounged from a rubbish bin in Kampung Baru Sungai Tepa, Bukit Malut.
They reportedly died after their father found them near the rubbish bin in a disoriented manner.
He rushed them to a neighbour's home but the boys stopped breathing several minutes later.
Police believe the victims ate food they fished out from the rubbish bin. – New Straits Times
Two doctors due to receive WHO awards
Two Thai doctors will be recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) for their contributions to the medical field, according to the Public Health Ministry.
Dr Rungrueng Kitphati, ministry spokesman, said the WHO's executive board plans to award Dr Prakit Vathesatogkit, executive secretary of the Action on Smoking and Health Foundation, with the Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health.
Meanwhile, Dr Paisan Ruamviboonsuk, an ophthalmologist specialising in retina/vitreous treatment at Rajavithi Hospital, has won the Sasakawa Health Prize, he said.
Dr Rungrueng said Dr Prakit, 78, is a multi-award-winning doctor who has contributed to the country's public health sector and is widely recognised for being behind the smoking ban in public places.
Dr Paisan, meanwhile, is known for his devotion to curing blindness, especially in patients who have diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness in Thailand, he said.
Dr Paisan has developed a method to detect blindness through retina photos, he said. He also has a project to train public health volunteers to detect retinal diseases in remote areas lacking access to doctors.
His project led to a free service by the Public Health Ministry to treat patients who may be blind due to diabetes, he said, adding his contribution has led to a reduction of blindness.
An award ceremony will be held during the World Health Assembly in May in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health was set up for those who benefit public health while the Sasakawa Health Prize was created and funded by the Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation and Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation to honour medical service innovations. – Bangkok Post
Marcos, Duterte widen lead in Pulse Asia survey
Presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and running mate Sara Duterte continued to be the top contenders for the May 9 elections, according to the latest survey conducted by Pulse Asia from Jan. 19 to 24 this year.
Marcos widened his lead to 60 percent from 53 percent in the Pulse Asia survey for president held in December last year.
He garnered the lead in all geographic areas and socio-economic groups with 53 to 66 percent and 50 to 61 percent, respectively.
Vice President Leni Robredo is in far second with 16 percent or 4 percent lower than the previous survey.
Former world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso are tied in third place with eight percent while Senator Panfilo Lacson is in the fourth spot with 4 percent. In the vice-presidential race, Pulse Asia said Duterte obtained “near to huge majority” voter preferences after her score increased from 46 percent in December 2021 to 50 percent in January 2022.
Duterte garnered the majority of support across geographic areas and socio-economic classes with 47 percent in the Visayas, 84 percent in Mindanao, and 49 percent to 55 percent in every socio-economic group.
Senate President Tito Sotto is in the second spot with 29 percent as he topped Metro Manila with 40 percent and Balance Luzon group with 37 percent.
Robredo’s running mate, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, is in third place with 11 percent followed by Dr Willie Ong with 5 percent, and Lito Atienza with 1 percent. – Philippine News Agency
Viet Nam to restore international flight frequency to pre-pandemic levels from Feb 15
Viet Nam will lift restrictions on the destinations and frequency of international flights from and to Viet Nam starting February 15, 2022, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam.
Dinh Viet Son, deputy head of the CAAV, said the agency had notified the counterparts in other countries of Viet Nam’s latest policy to reopen regular international flights to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
With the Government’s policy to reopen international tourism before the end of March, the aviation sector needs to be one step ahead, Son said.
Even though the restrictions on inbound flights are lifted, entry and exit, as well as disease prevention and control regulations for arrivals into Viet Nam, still need to be followed as per guidelines from the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Health.
Aside from China, which is sticking firmly with its stringent Zero COVID strategy, all other countries with which Viet Nam has discussed the reopening of air links have agreed, including European nations, Australia and the United States.
Japan and South Korea, however, are still limiting the number of foreign arrivals into their countries amid the growing COVID-19 outbreak.
International flights to and from new markets such as the Middle East and Turkey are being planned, according to the CAAV.
Domestic airlines and aviation authorities are ready to fully operate international flight networks to pre-pandemic levels, according to Son.
Airlines have repeatedly called for the restoration of flights as soon as possible, as belated reopening will make Viet Nam lose out on tourists and investors, and undermine the country’s competitiveness. – Vietnam News
More people doing PCR tests after testing positive for Covid-19
People who have been found positive for Covid-19 are now heeding the advice of the Health Ministry and getting themselves tested at the hospitals to ascertain which strain or variant they are infected with. This came to light when Khmer Times’ team went on the ground yesterday to do a spot check on how people are reacting to the advice given by the ministry last week on the importance of those infected going to the health fraternity to do the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for Covid-19.
At the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, a few hundred infected victims, mainly youth and adults, were queuing up for PCR tests.
Some of them were those working at high-risk business premises, some were students or those working in schools, as well as market vendors or those who contracted the disease from someone with whom they came in contact.
There were even those who were directed by their management to go directly to the hospital after they disclosed that they had direct contact with Covid-19 patients or showed symptoms of the disease. Phnom Penh Education Department Director Hem Sinareth said yesterday that no schools have been ordered close although informed by Khmer Times that there were cases of Omicron in some schools.
He said he will investigate based on the information received.
Yesterday, there were 401 people confirmed with Omicron of whom 397 were community cases. The total number of imported Omicron cases stands at 1,004, and community cases at 1,987.
Health Minister Mam Bun Heng issued a directive on the need to strengthen the implementation of Covid-19 standard procedures for the management, care and treatment of the disease at home. – Khmer Times
Norwegian civil society network reports Telenor Myanmar sale to police
A Norwegian civil society network submitted a complaint against the leadership of telecom multinational Telenor Group with the police on Friday, urging them to probe into whether the company’s sale plan of its Myanmar subsidiary is in violation of “crimes against humanity.”
The Norwegian Forum for Development and Environment (ForUM), a network of 50 Norwegian civil society organisations, demanded that the country’s police force and attorney general look into the controversial sale of Telenor Myanmar, which has faced a pushback from local and international rights activists over concerns of data security.
ForUM asked the country’s law enforcement body to investigate the actions of Telenor Group’s chief executive officer Sigve Brekke and Gunn Wærsted, chair of the group’s board of directors, regarding the sale. It referred to possible violations of Chapter 16 of the Norwegian Penal Code on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Norwegian government is the majority owner of Telenor Group.
Telenor Myanmar is due to be sold to Lebanon’s M1 Group this month. M1, which has been criticised for working with despotic regimes worldwide, will then transfer a controlling stake in the venture to a Myanmar firm named Shwe Byain Phyu, which has strong ties to the military, industry sources have told Myanmar Now.
The sale will see Telenor hand over the sensitive personal data of its more than 18 million subscribers, including the times, dates and locations of calls and text messages – information the junta can use to target its opponents. – Myanmar NOW
COVID-19: Jokowi reiterates call to Indonesians to stay calm
Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has reiterated his call to all citizens to keep calm and disciplined in implementing the government's health protocols to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
He also urges the people at large to reduce their unnecessary activities in the midst of exponential growth of cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant in Indonesia.
"I call on the people at large to stay calm, disciplined in implementing the health protocols, and reduce their unnecessary activities," he was quoted as saying on his official Twitter account here Sunday.
As predicted, an increase in daily COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has almost reached the peak of those in July 2021, President Jokowi said.
Omicron is more transmissible but its infection fatality rate is less severe than that of Delta variant, he said while urging unvaccinated Indonesians to get vaccinated immediately.
"The COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are also needed for eligible persons who fully get vaccinated," he said.
In the midst of an Omicron surge, the Indonesian authorities reported 55,209 new cases on February 12, 2022, bringing the tally since the government announced the country's first COVID-19 cases on March 2, 2020, to some 4,763,252.
As of February 12, 2022, some 135.2 million Indonesians have fully been vaccinated while the number of recipients of booster shots has reached 6.8 million. – AntaraNews.Com