HANOI, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam recorded 1,596 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, up by 48 from Friday, according to its ministry of health.

Among the new cases, only one was imported and the rest were locally transmitted, said the health ministry.

The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 11,417,503. The country reported one new death from the pandemic in the central Khanh Hoa province on Saturday, bringing the total fatalities to 43,119.

As of Saturday, there were 117 severe cases in need of assisted breathing in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.

Nationwide, 10,205,173 COVID-19 patients, or over 89 percent of the total infections, have recovered.

Roughly 257.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including nearly 219.2 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.

Vietnam has already recorded COVID-19 infections with the Omicron BA.4, BA.5, BA.2.12.1 and BA.2.74 sub-variants and is accelerating the inoculation of its people with a fourth vaccine dose.