Laos PM orders vaccination programme accelerated, expanded

Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh has instructed authorities in charge to continue with the vaccination of target groups and to offer the vaccine to all other citizens, so that the target could be reached or even exceeded.

The premier made the call in a statement issued on Tuesday, pledging that the government would accelerate the roll out of vaccinations to keep Covid-19 in check.

He also called for stronger action to ward off the virus amid growing fears of an outbreak after a record number of imported cases were reported in recent days.

The number of known cases increased from 49 on April 13 to 58 on April 18, which the prime minister said was a rapid increase compared to the previous rate at which infections were recorded.

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