Hanoi (VNA) – COVID-19 infections among childrenand infants is a cause for concern as they have become the group most at riskafter the elderly, Malaysia’s Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has told apress conference updating coronavirus situation in the country.

So far, 48,261 children and babies nationwide have beeninfected with the virus, he said, of the number, 6,290 are under the age of 18months.

UN Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Representative toMalaysia and Special Representative to Brunei Darussalam Dr. Rashed MustafaSarwar said the public needs to continue to find new and innovative ways toprotect children in this country.

"The future of millions of children depends on theaction we take today. Let's come together to keep them safe," said Rashedin his official Twitter account.

Malaysia reported the highest number of daily infectionsfor two days in a row, at 7,478, on May 26. This brought the cumulative totalto 533,367, including 2,432 deaths.

Over 2.58 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have beengiven to Malaysians so far, with 935,865 people having completed two doses viathe National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Health confirmed 660 new COVID-19cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the national tally to 26,989 on May 26. Thenew infections, the highest daily number, included 626 local cases and 34imported.

Seven new fatalities were registered, raising the death tollto 190, the ministry said, adding that another 750 patients recovered.

So far, more than 2.3 million out of the 10 milliontarget population have already been vaccinated in the Southeast Asian country.

In Thailand, the government is modifying its coronavirusimmunisation strategy to target worst-hit areas and sectors where clusters aremost likely to emerge, as it deals with its most severe outbreak yet and a lowvaccination rate.

The strategy prioritises the epicentre Bangkok and nearbyprovinces, tourism hotspots, construction camps and potential spreaders, likepublic transport workers, the government’s COVID-19 taskforce said.

Thailand will extend the gap between the first and seconddoses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to 16 weeks, in an effort to inoculatemore people faster.

The country is due to start mass vaccinations next monthand of its 66 million people, only 2.5 million have received at least one doseof a coronavirus vaccine./.