The Ministry of Health registered 8,176 COVID-19 patients in Vietnam on Sunday, together with 5,257 recovered patients and 64 deaths.

The latest infections, including 13 imported and 8,163 local cases, were documented in 52 provinces and cities, the ministry said, elaborating that 3,705 patients were infected in the community.

Ho Chi Minh City reported 985 of the domestic transmissions, An Giang Province 695, Dong Nai Province 674, Binh Duong Province 623, Binh Thuan Province 623, Khanh Hoa Province 209, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 204, Can Tho City 146, Hanoi 88, Quang Nam Province 43, Quang Ninh Province 37, and Da Nang 18.

Vietnam had confirmed 8,451 locally-infected patients on Saturday.

The Southeast Asian country has found 1,021,493 community-based transmissions in all its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave emerged on April 27. A combined 860,494 of them have recovered from COVID-19.

Ho Chi Minh City has been the largest epicenter with 447,428 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 243,497, Dong Nai Province with 78,073, Long An Province with 36,463, Tien Giang Province with 20,780, An Giang Province with 17,458, Tay Ninh Province with 15,784, Kien Giang Province with 14,328, Dong Thap Province with 13,368, Khanh Hoa Province with 10,273, Can Tho City with 9,272, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with 6,652, Hanoi with 6,232, and Da Nang with 5,218.

Vietnam recorded only 1,570 locally-transmitted infections in total in the previous three waves.

The health ministry announced 5,257 recovered patients on Saturday, taking the total to 863,311.

The toll has climbed to 23,082 deaths after the ministry registered 64 fatalities on the same day, including 22 in Ho Chi Minh City, eight in Kien Giang Province, six in An Giang Province, and the remainder in 13 other provinces and cities.  

Vietnam has detected 1,026,522 infections since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit it early last year.

Health workers have given close to 99 million vaccine doses, including 1,093,823 jabs on Saturday, since inoculation was rolled out on March 8.

Over 34.6 million people have received two jabs.

Health authorities in the country of nearly 98 million people target to fully vaccinate 80 percent of the adults and 100 percent of those aged 12 to under 18 by the end of this year, according to a draft government plan for COVID-19 response in 2021-23.

From 2022 onward, 100 percent of people aged 12 and above will either be fully immunized against the coronavirus or even get booster shots.

Children from three to under 12 years old will be fully inoculated in accordance with World Health Organization guidelines.