A total of 3.471 million people had received two full doses of the COVID-19 vaccines as of September 18, according to the Ministry of Health.

As of September 18, 3,471,251 people (3.471 million) had been received two full doses of the vaccine and 2,059,114 people (2.059 million) had been received one dose of the vaccine, totaling 5,530,365 people (5.530 million). The total number of vaccinations was over 9 million, according to the ministry.

In addition, Myanmar signed a contract to buy 24 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China and will vaccinate 12 million people this year if the vaccine arrives. The group will include people between the ages of 40 and 64, according to the ministry.

Two million COVID-19 vaccines purchased from Russia will be arrived in September, according to the ministry.

The COVID-19 vaccination is started in Myanmar since January 2021.

The COVID-19 vaccines currently using are Sinopharm and Sinovac from China, which are allowed by WHO for emergency use that can be given for those over 18 years of age, according to the WHO guidelines.

The ministry said it was also working to increase the number of vaccines available and is negotiating the purchase of vaccines.

There are a total of 36.9 million people with the age of over 18 needed to be vaccinated and, 4.99 million of them are vaccinated once or twice. The completion rate is close to 13 percent, according to the ministry.

In addition, the target groups are extended to provide the COVID-19 vaccine starting from September 14.

People aged 55 and over, people with disabilities, members and families of ethnic armed groups, people living in refugee camps and temporary camps, people with chronic and non-communicable diseases are included in the targeted groups.