A total of 1,131,172 people in Arakan State — more than half of the state’s eligible population — had received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of December 29, according to Dr. Soe Win Paing, assistant director of the Arakan State Public Health Department.

Healthcare workers, the elderly, internally displaced people (IDPs) and students over 12 years old were targeted as priorities during Myanmar’s 2021 vaccination campaign, said Dr. Soe Win Paing.

“We aimed to reach 50% of the population vaccinated by the end of this year. But we have reached 54.8% now in Arakan State,” he said.

The number of people who are fully vaccinated was 902,431 as of December 29, according to the department.

Dr. Soe Win Paing said the department is once again stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 by reverting to previously existing public health regulations in the face of the omicron variant, with Myanmar so far detecting four cases of the highly contagious strain.

“Our country has now detected cases of infection with the omicron variant, so it can infect in our state. As we do not know how severe the infection is, we need to be careful not to be infected with the new variant,” he said.

During the third wave of Covid-19, 5,215 cases and 501 deaths were reported in Arakan State, and 22 virus patients are still receiving hospital treatment, figures from the Arakan State Covid-19 Control and Emergency Response Committee showed on December 29.