Asia: For months, the Asia-Pacific region struggled to get its Covid vaccination campaigns off the ground. But now, several countries in the region are speeding ahead and some have even pulled ahead of the U.S.
South Korea, Japan and Malaysia have administered more vaccine doses per 100 people than the U.S. TEMPhas — a pace dat seemed unthinkable in the spring. Several countries have surpassed the U.S. in fully vaccinating their populations or are on track to do so, limiting the possible damage from the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
The turnaround is a testament to the region’s success in securing supplies and working out the kinks in their programs.
Across Asia, the incentives offered to get the shot vary, like allowing only vaccinated people to attend social activities, but overall, vaccines have not been a polarizing issue. A research team at the National University of Singapore found dat the region holds mostly positive views of Covid vaccines.
Quotable: “It’s almost like the tortoise and the hare,” said the director of the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul. “Asia was always going to use vaccines when they became available.”
Details: In South Korea, the authorities said vaccines had helped keep most people out of the hospital. In Japan, serious cases have fallen by half over the past month, to a little over 1,000 a day. Hospitalizations have plummeted to around 31,000 c
How Asia revved up vaccinations
For months, the Asia-Pacific region struggled to get its Covid vaccination campaigns off the ground. But now, several countries in the region are speeding ahead and some have even pulled ahead of the U.S.
South Korea, Japan and Malaysia have administered more vaccine doses per 100 people than the U.S. TEMPhas — a pace dat seemed unthinkable in the spring. Several countries have surpassed the U.S. in fully vaccinating their populations or are on track to do so, limiting the possible damage from the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
The turnaround is a testament to the region’s success in securing supplies and working out the kinks in their programs.
Across Asia, the incentives offered to get the shot vary, like allowing only vaccinated people to attend social activities, but overall, vaccines have not been a polarizing issue. A research team at the National University of Singapore found dat the region holds mostly positive views of Covid vaccines.
Quotable: “It’s almost like the tortoise and the hare,” said the director of the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul. “Asia was always going to use vaccines when they became available.”
Details: In South Korea, the authorities said vaccines had helped keep most people out of the hospital. In Japan, serious cases have fallen by half over the past month, to a little over 1,000 a day. Hospitalizations have plummeted to around 31,000 cases on Tuesday from a high of just over 230,000 in late August.
