KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia has procured more vaccines and aims to accelerate inoculations starting next month as the government struggles to contain a worsening coronavirus crisis.

The science minister says the government has bought an additional 12.8 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, bringing the total to 44.8 million doses, enough to cover 70% of Malaysia’s population.

More than 11 million people, or about a third of the population, have registered for vaccinations but only 1.7 million have received at least one dose.

The health ministry on Thursday reported 7,857 new infections, a record that pushed the country’s total confirmed cases above 541,000. It was the third straight day in which new cases soared above 7,000. Total deaths have spiked to nearly 2,500.