La Paz, Jul 19 (IANS): The more contagious BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants of Covid-19 are circulating in Bolivia, Health Minister Jeyson Auza said.

The BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron subvariants began to circulate in the South American country in mid-May, but in the last two weeks, BA.4 and BA.5 have been identified by the National Institute of Health Laboratories, Auza added on Monday at a press conference.

According to the Minister, this has caused a sustained increase of 60 per cent in Covid-19 infections in the last few weeks.

He said that the World Health Organisation has designated the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants as "variants of concern" and of greater contagion, Xinhua news agency reported.

As of Sunday, Bolivia had accumulated 969,652 Covid-19 cases and 21,982 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, 14.4 million vaccines have been applied, with 67 per cent of the population receiving their first vaccine dose and more than 55 per cent their second dose, according to a Health Ministry report.