NDO/VNA - More than 53% of patients died from COVID-19 in Malaysia had not been vaccinated, while Singapore said it is fearing 2,000 deaths a year as a result of the pandemic.

The number of people who have not been vaccinated and have just received one dose accounted for 71.7% of the total deaths from COVID-19 in Malaysia from September 1 to October 30, of which 4,076 people (equivalent to 53.4%) were unvaccinated, Dr Amar Singh HSS said on November 1, citing data from the Malaysian Health Ministry.

Amar said the fact reflected the effectiveness of full immunisation in reducing hospitalisations and deaths. Currently, the number of unvaccinated people in Malaysia is only a small group, but it is the group with the highest number of deaths. However, it's also important to keep in mind that fully vaccinated people still gets COVID-19 and carries a risk of death.

Meanwhile, in Singapore, Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary said in Parliament on the same day that the nation could see as many 2,000 COVID-19-related deaths annually, despite the best possible medical care, most of whom will be the elderly and those already unwell.

According to Janil, Singapore's COVID-19 death rate is one of the lowest in the world, at 0.2%, compared to 3% or higher in countries that experienced a surge in cases before vaccination.

The country saw a total of 407 deaths by October 31.

The Government is seeking to use a combination of high vaccination rates, booster jabs and natural immunity from mild infections to stop the disease from spreading as an epidemic, he informed.

Also on November 1, the Lao Ministry of Health said that in the past 24 hours, the country recorded 685 new cases and two deaths from COVID-19.

As such, the total number of COVID-19 infections in Laos has reached 40,956, including 67 deaths.