The Malaysian government announced that it would send nearly 1 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Bangladesh and Laos. The vaccines would arrive in both countries on Dec. 6 and Dec. 8, respectively, reported Bernama. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the contribution would ensure both countries have equal access to COVID-19 vaccines amid the growing spread of the Omicron variant. Bangladesh’s government has previously raised the alarm over the shortage of hospital beds as the number of infections has been climbing since July. “If the infection continues to increase like this, there will be no place left in hospitals,” said Health Minister Zahid Maleque. The South Asian country has recorded 1,577,720 cases with 28,000 deaths. Khairy said only 20 percent of Bangladesh’s population and 42 percent of Laos’ were fully vaccinated, which pales in comparison to Malaysia’s at 78 percent. Minister Khairy added that despite these contributions, Malaysia has sufficient vaccines for adults and adolescents, …