KATHMANDU -- The Nepali government started vaccinating its population aged below 18 with COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday, said a senior official from the Ministry of Health and Population.

"We have started vaccinating people aged 12 and above with the Pfizer vaccine starting from Sunday," Sagar Dahal, chief of the National Immunization Program under the ministry, told Xinhua. "It is for the first time that we vaccinate people aged under 18."

He made it clear that only those with morbid health conditions like heart disease and diabetes would be administered with the Pfizer vaccine in the first phase. (Nepal-Vaccination)

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PHNOM PENH -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Sunday announced quarantine-free travel for all fully vaccinated inbound passengers after Cambodians have mostly been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The quarantine-free travel will start from Monday, he said in a special audio message released publicly.

"As almost 88 percent of our total population have received COVID-19 vaccines, so quarantine requirements are not needed anymore," Hun Sen said. (Cambodia-COVID-19-Travel)

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SYDNEY -- The Australian state of Queensland is set to reach its first major, 70 percent, vaccination milestone for over-16 population on Monday, almost one week earlier than previously expected.

Queensland's Health Minister Yvette D'Ath announced the state's double vaccination rate at 69.94 on Sunday. She said the state is guaranteed to hit the 70 percent milestone on Monday.

"This 70 percent target is just the start, we are absolutely on our way to not just meet our 80 percent target, but getting to that 90 percent target," said D'Ath. (Australia-Queensland-COVID-19)

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JAKARTA -- An oil refinery tank in Indonesia's Central Java province caught fire on Saturday night, and residents living around the facility would be evacuated as firefighters were battling the blaze, the country's state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina said.

The company ensured in a statement that the supplies of oil and liquefied petroleum gas for buyers were not disturbed by the accident.

The fire broke out at an oil refinery tank in Cilacap district at about 7:20 p.m. Jakarta time (1220 GMT), the statement said. (Indonesia-Oil Refinery-Tank-Fire)

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SINGAPORE -- Singapore recorded 1,723 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total tally to 237,203, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a press release.

Of the new cases, 1,651 were reported in the community and 66 in migrant worker dormitories while six were imported cases.

A total of 1,525 cases are currently hospitalized. An additional 10 deaths from COVID-19 were reported in the Southeast Asian country, bringing the overall death toll to 586. (Singapore-COVID-19-Update)

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SYDNEY -- In a first-of-its-kind trial, an Australian-led research has shown that antibiotics have the potential to significantly reduce the underlying risk of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in children and adolescents.

A team of international researchers were involved in the study led by the Melbourne-based Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI). The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and released to the public on Sunday. (Australia-Research-Heart Disease) Enditem

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