HANOI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam recorded 435 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, down 74 from Thursday's caseload, according to the Ministry of Health.

All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the ministry.
The new infections brought the total tally to 11,510,919. The country reported a new death from the pandemic in the southern Tay Ninh province on Friday, bringing the total fatalities to 43,168.

As of Friday, 66 severe cases were in need of assisted breathing in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.

Nationwide, 10,606,633 COVID-19 patients, or over 92 percent of the total infections, have recovered.
Over 263 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including nearly 222.4 million shots for 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.