HANOI, Nov. 19 (Xinhua)- Vietnam recorded 259 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, down 176 from Friday, according to the country's Ministry of Health.

All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the ministry.
The new infections brought the country's total tally to 11,511,178. The country reported a new death from the pandemic in the south-central Binh Thuan province on Saturday, bringing the total fatalities to 43,169.

As of Saturday, 52 severe cases were in need of assisted breathing in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry.

Nationwide, 10,606,746 COVID-19 patients, or over 92 percent of the total infections, have recovered.

Nearly 263.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including approximately 222.4 million shots to 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.