HANOI, Sept. 17 (Xinhua)- Vietnam recorded 2,479 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, down 601 from Friday, according to the Ministry of Health.

All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the ministry.
The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 11,456,558. The country reported one new death from the pandemic in the northern Ninh Binh province on Saturday, with the total fatalities rising to 43,138.

As of Saturday, there were 153 severe cases in need of assisted breathing in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.
Nationwide, 10,578,390 COVID-19 patients, or over 92 percent of the total infections, have recovered.

Over 259.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including more than 220.1 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.

Vietnam has already recorded COVID-19 infections with 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.