BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Argentina registered 5,417 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the national tally to 2,069,751, the health ministry said.

The ministry also reported 163 more deaths from the disease, taking the nationwide death toll to 51,359.

A total of 1,872,213 patients have recovered from the disease so far, while 146,179 cases remain active, it said.

Having registered a total of 863,871 cases, the province of Buenos Aires remains the hardest-hit region in the South American country.

In the capital Buenos Aires, the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 began on Monday for adults over 80 years old and those living in nursing homes, while the vaccination of health workers continues in parallel.

The Argentine government on Sunday officially approved the emergency use of an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm.

Argentina has extended its social, preventive and mandatory distancing measures until Feb. 28.